


By Deaths To Die

by SinclairMaxwell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-22
Updated: 2013-05-21
Packaged: 2017-12-12 14:30:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/812627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinclairMaxwell/pseuds/SinclairMaxwell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Harry is tragically murdered, he thought it was the end. Apparently not. He will have his revenge and Voldemort will help. SLASH. HP/LV</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Till Death Do We Part

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Stuff it, you sods.

Chapter One Till Death Do We Part

Harry tried not to look in the water as they crossed the sizeable underground lake. In the center, Voldemort's Horcrux glowed ominously. The corpses still floated like demented fish just beneath the surface of the water. It sent a shiver down his spine. At least nothing was happening yet. Harry had no doubt that once they got too close to the vessel that held the soul fragment, there would definitely be trouble. But not yet. It was smooth sailing so far, no pun intended. Just himself, Dumbledore, and the dead bodies in the lake.

Dumbledore's thoughts were decidedly less pleasant as the boat bobbed up and down, occasionally brushing gently against the sleeping Inferi. He was watching Harry with a calculating eye. He wanted to see how being close to another Horcrux would effect to boy. Yes, he knew that his pupil was one of Riddle's sick vessels. The question was, what was he going to do about it? If he played his cards right, he could get rid of two horcruxes in one trip. He would have to be quick, though. And wait for the perfect moment. The Inferi would do the rest. As soon as they laid hands on that soul piece, the dead would rise from their watery graves. If anything would kill Harry, being eaten certainly would do the trick. The boat jostled to a stop along the center island.

Harry grabbed the locket and Dumbledore smiled somewhat hazily at him. The man was acting strange.

"It's safest with you, my boy. Put on so it doesn't fall out of your pockets. If it falls into the lake, there will be no retrieving it." The Headmaster said with an odd sort of solemn contemplation. The moment that they stepped back into the boat, the first shudder wracked it. The thing almost tipped when another large something bumped against it. Harry didn't want to look. He wanted to stare ahead and pretend that those bodies weren't there. That he wasn't standing there with a man he didn't trust in the slightest. Alas, he forced his eyes onto the depths and his stomach dropped. A pair of dead eyes stared up at him from beneath.

"Sit down, Harry. We suddenly have the need to speed up our journey considerably." Dumbledore ordered and lifted his wand.

Harry sat down quick. He was NOT going to get thrown from this boat. The vessel shot across the water, making a large wake as it went. They hit the bodies of the Inferi every few seconds with a sickening thud that had the teen thinking that throwing up sounded really good about then. The waves crashed against the boat, splashing fifty years of half stagnant dead water onto him. A stone cold hand gripped his wrist and Harry couldn't stop the cry of fear that bubbled out of his throat. He jerked away but to no avail for the steel grip held. He turned to Dumbledore for help but what appeared in his mentor's eyes frightened him more than the threat of Inferi waiting on his arm. They hit the shore while Dumbledore was watching him and the two humans were thrown from the boat, onto the hard unforgiving soil. The Headmaster was quick to his feet. Harry, however, was not so lucky. The hold on his wrist had remained and now another

set was grabbing hold of his ankles. Terror seared through him and the teen began to struggle. Dumbledore watched as the Inferi began to climb over his student with an emotionless gaze. Harry began to scream for him to help but Dumbledore turned around.

" I can get rid of two Horcruxes in one trip. The locket…and you." He stated calmly and opened the doorway to the cave.

The wall sealed shut behind him and Harry's terror filled brain finally registered the pain as a mouth clamped down on his shoulder. The teeth pierced his skin cruelly. His panicked mind raced. He was being eaten?! But no. No other teeth set into his terrified flesh. No other Inferi crawled over him. Just the one. His vision began to fog as the skin around the bite grew cold. He was pulled slowly into the water and began to sink under the frigid waves with the Inferi's forever dead arms wrapped almost protectively around him. Black unforgiving water filled his lungs and he knew no more.

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	2. As I Walk Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death

Chapter Two As I Walk Through The Valley Of The Shadow of Death

The icy water hummed around him but was silent all at once. He could feel the cold power that animated every Inferi in the lake running through him. As if he had ties to every one. His maker's steel like arms were still wrapped around him in that unnatural sleep. Those dead unseeing eyes were open. His maker was awake as was every one of them. He knew that, in all of that inky blackness, if he were to call the Inferi, they would come. He could command them if he chose. What had woken them? He extended his awareness out, trying to discover the strangeness that had Called them. What had changed about their surroundings that should make them wake from their slumber? There. It was as if a cord attached to his very soul was jerking at him, bidding him to come to the surface. He frowned. He burned with the hatred of his betrayal still. He would not be anyone's puppet again. He thrust that strange magic back up through the link, letting whatever sat on the other end know that he would come but on his own terms. He floated silently through the water, watching the Inferi he passed. Yes, he knew that he was no longer among the living. The reason for his existence was unknown to him though. What exactly made an Inferi? Perhaps, he would soon know. The locket pulsed around his throat.

Voldemort stood in the boat in the center of his lake furiously. His Horcrux was gone and he demanded to know why! The Inferi Lord had better have some bloody answers, that's for sure! He extended his hand out over the glassy surface of the lake and summoned up the bond he had with his creations. There was something…different about the Inferi Lord. Curious.

"I summon you, Lord of the Inferi. Keeper of the Silent Ones. Come to your purpose. Come to your master." He hissed.

He felt the connection tug at the undead but, instead of the Inferi Lord imply bowing to his will as usual, there was an answering tug. Voldemort only had time to simply frown before his own magic was shoved back at him. He wavered before turning an angry glare on the water. Something was going on and it wasn't something he had anticipated. The Inferi were just reanimated corpses. They should have no free will. Unless it wasn't merely an Inferi. Unless something else had taken root in his cave. Someone had been here. He wasn't ruling anything out. The Inferi Lord was coming to the surface. He would get his answers shortly enough. Several yards out, a single head poked over the surface. Then, just feet away from the boat, another peered out of the water. Everywhere, Inferi were rising with their Lord. It seemed that they wanted to see the interaction themselves. A hand grabbed the edge of the boat and a form pulled itself out of the water, over the edge of his vessel. He stared for a moment while he righted himself, his shock almost naked on his face. Harry Potter's green eyes stared up at him from beneath

sopping wet black hair. His face was pale as death and around his neck glinted Slytherin's locket. He was absolutely…floored.

"Potter?! YOU are the Inferi Lord?! How-! What did you do?!" He yelled, not bothering to censor his words despite how completely juvenile they sounded.

Harry smirked wryly.

"I seem to be dead, Tom. I expect that your Horcrux has something to do with it. As for how I have come about my present state of unlife, I suppose you should ask our dear traitorous Headmaster. He seems to have all of the answers." The hatred in him coated his words like tar.

Voldemort raised an eyebrow, his eyes flicking down once toward the locket. It was possible, he supposed, that wearing the locket could have helped in Potter's transformation but…it was incredibly unlikely. No. Something else was amiss here. Something he just couldn't place.

"And what exactly does Dumbledore know, Potter. Tell me."

Harry's smirk grew and he leaned on closer to the Dark Lord, touching his clothed chest. His eyes closed as if he were savoring the feel of a living, beating heart and the warmth of a living being. He leaned close enough to kiss.

"Everything. He knows everything. About all eight of your Horcruxes. Where they are hidden. He knows your life from the beginning, Tom." He whispered in his ear.

Voldemort did not show any inclination that he had heard his given name but instead laughed, suddenly, high and mirthless. He touched the locket around Harry's throat and jerked the thing off. When the teen did not fall at his feet as an ordinary corpse, the gleam seemed to leech out of his eyes.

"If he knew so much about them, then he would realize that there are only seven. Not eight."

"Then how am I still here? It is your soul piece inside me that keeps me 'alive', for lack of a more appropriate term. I am a Horcrux. Ever since that day fifteen years ago. My mother was the sacrifice needed. Dumbledore knew this and for that he left me here to the Inferi. I guess he didn't count on them not finishing me off. Properly." He finished off with a shrug.

The Dark Lord looked as if he had swallowed a large, squirming thing. Lovely. Harry imagined one of Snape's weird jar things wiggling around in Voldemort's throat. He would have grinned if the situation had been less daunting. He wanted his revenge just as much as the Dark Lord wanted Dumbledore dead, but his body ached to again submit to the black depths and to rest forever. He needed this though. He could kill Dumbledore on his own but it would be much more difficult. Besides, he did not yet know his own limitations. Dead was dead but just how much of the dead part counted in his situation? Voldemort was silent for a long moment, thinking this new situation over solemnly. Harry knew much of Dumbledore's future plans and could help him thwart the old man or at the very least frustrate him. And

Potter being a Horcrux, for he had no doubt that he was, he would need protections that he could only give in person. He could feel now, the connection between them for what it truly was and cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

"You will need to come with me. I have to make sure that the old man doesn't realize this new turn of events and take advantage of it. If you are at my base, I can be sure that you are protected at all times." He said at last, slipping the locket into his pocket.

Harry merely tilted his head, that sardonic smirk playing on his lips again.

"Oh no, Lord Voldemort. I am not merely a piece of you now. I am the Inferi Lord too and I require the flesh and blood needed to seal the alliance between us. If I am correct, and I know I am because I have my creator's knowledge of it, to seal an alliance with a new Inferi Lord, you must offer a taste of your own flesh and blood."

The man raised an elegant eyebrow. Yes, eyebrow. Now that Harry was fully awakened, he could see the difference in the man before him. He was handsome, that much was certain. Much how he pictured Lucifer would look before his fall from grace. An excellent analogy. He looked much like an older Tom Riddle. It was a good thing that he was gay. Harry wondered if Dumbledore had seen that similarity between himself and the Dark Lord daunting. Was that one of the reasons he had opted to destroy him rather than use him against Tom? Voldemort raised the sleeve of his robe, baring his forearm. It was pale and unmarred except for a cigarette burn near the bend of it. Harry had similar scars. Many of them in fact. How similar they were to one another. He touched the small flaw with one cold hand. Tom's wand drew a line across his arm in one bleeding stroke. It wasn't deep but it was sufficient enough for his purpose. Silently, and with watchful crimson eyes, he took in the sight. Harry wondered if he would be disgusted by it. Nothing like a person flinching from you sucking the blood off of their arm to knock down your self confidence. Harry took the offered appendage and ran his tongue lingeringly over the wound before latching onto it. The blood was charged with power like it was liquid electricity. It was thrilling. He drank as deep as he could before the wound would give no more. No doubt the Dark Lord would have a very interesting looking hickey tomorrow. The man was just about to carve a piece of his flesh off when Harry stilled his hand. Tom looked at him with a light confusion. Just as well, too. He'd rather not give up a bit of skin for Potter.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would rather have my taste of your flesh in a more…pleasant way." He purred and scoffed at Voldemort's surprised look, "I died a virgin. Do you really expect me to stay that way in the after-life?"

Tom shook his head and looked at the boy before him. Potter wasn't the scrawny brat that he had known in his first year either, or even his fourth year. He had grown into his slender, toned frame and, the fact that he was very dead aside, he looked lovely. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a chore after all.

"Very well. Let's get back to the base beforehand though. I don't imagine that the boat would be all that comfortable." The Dark Lord said calmly but noted without relish the fact that another being was skimming across the water.

Harry watched the shadow flow over towards them like an inky sheet across the water. His maker seemed to be sending him a going away gift. It stayed out of the boat but looked out of the darkness with silver eyes. They looked like a wolves at night with the light reflected off of their mirror like surfaces. It didn't approach further so, with a short glare, Tom bid the boat back to the surface. It followed close behind but disappeared once they were safely out of the cave. Harry had no doubts that that was not the last that they had seen of it though.

Thoughts? Comments? NO FLAMES! If you like it, review. If you don't..well don't. Constructive Criticism is always welcome but if it isn't constructive then don't bother. I hate flames as much as the next author. If you flame me, I will flame you back.


	3. Death Waits For No Hero

Alrighty, a bit of necrophilia. Sort of. I'm not even sure anymore. Have any of you read Laurell K. Hamilton's brand new book, Blood Noir? It just hit the shelves yesterday. I rushed out today and bought it before my trip tomorrow morning. Well, really in just a few hours. I'm such a night bird when I get all excited about a story. What I've read so far is really good, as expected. She never disappoints, that's for sure. I even bought number eleven of the twelve book comic series she made of Guilty Pleasures. In an article with Writer's Digest, she says that she wants to do comics of all of the Anita Blake series. I'm so excited! The title of this chapter is also a story written by tyger666. Really good fic by the way. Sort of like this one but completely different too.

Disclaimer: Please. Be logical.

Chapter Three Death Waits For No Hero

Harry's legs were curled around his waist as the Dark Lord pushed him against the now closed bedroom door. His lips against his own were intoxicating. Tom tasted like honey and rain. He had cast some discreet drying and warming charms on himself to bring his body temperature up to that of a living person once he had discovered his wand safely tucked away in his pocket. The wood had turned a dark black color from being submerged in the death filled waters of the cave and it now felt as cold as he had before the charms had taken affect. Cold as a corpse. His robes were slid off quickly and they found themselves on the bed in no time at all. There was heat building in his lower abdomen and Harry released a frustrated groan to which the Dark Lord only smirked at wickedly.

"Patience is a virtue, Harry." He replied even though his voice was growing breathy as well.

Harry snorted and pulled the man's shirt off in answer. He wanted all of him. He wanted to taste it all. Voldemort made short work of his clothes and instead of relieving him of his frustration, he sat back to look at the delicious teen spread before him. Harry's Quiddich toned body was pale and beautiful beneath the hideous baggy clothes he wore. It made him want to buy the boy new ones, just to have the experience of seeing him in something tight and form hugging. He leaned down to capture the pink lips once more.

/;/;/;/;/

Voldemort panted, wrapping the boy securely in his arms. That was…amazing. The way Harry had writhed beneath him, begging for more. He shivered pleasantly. Emerald eyes were watching him satiated as the teen basked in the after orgasm glow. Little scars decorated his flesh and Voldemort allowed his eyes to trace them, half expecting Harry to cover himself and demand that he stop. He didn't. Harry allowed him his heavy glances. After all, it was worth a bit of horror. Cigarette burns, thick slices, other burns, puncture wounds. They all danced over the pale skin like a plethora of terrible memories past. Voldemort once again felt Harry finger that little scar on the inside of his arm, his own mark of the cruelty of man.

"I wouldn't mind doing that again." He said with a wry grin, running his hands through the teen's black hair.

"Me neither. It was…the best thing I've ever felt."

He nodded in agreement and closed his eyes to sleep.

Okay, so he had learned from the night that he didn't need sleep. The need didn't even register and when he tried to sleep he just got bored, so he had settled into a book from Tom's library instead. Now, he was looking crankily over the marble floor at the pool of water at his feet. Tom had already slid into the water but he had drawn the line. He was not going in. It was no surprise, at least to Tom. He had died ultimately by drowning so it was no surprise that he shunned the element as a whole.

"I'm not going in there. I hate water." Harry hissed with a grouchy manner.

Tom shrugged and instead amused himself by watching him cast cleaning charms on himself. He had given Harry some of his clothes, sized to fit. Only until he got out to get his own, though, Harry had insisted. Something about wearing other people's clothes perturbed him for some reason. Tom believed that it had to do with Harry's upbringing in part and that he hated to rely on anyone for anything. They had also discovered that Harry did not require food. In fact, Harry considered eating meat cannibalism. He shunned food like he did water although Voldemort had managed to get some tea into him.

"I just see corpses. It would be like you eating Dumbledore alive. I'm dead, their dead. Cannabalism." He had said simply.

Tom had left him alone after that. They had done a few minor tests as well. Harry had cut himself and the wound had closed automatically. Not surprising either as the only way to truly kill Inferi was by fire. He looked over at the shadow creature that had appeared in the corner of the bathroom just moments ago. Tom glared at it suspiciously.

"Well, hello. I was wondering when you would arrive." Harry purred to it.

Silver eyes blinked and the darkness around it folded inward to reveal a man. He appeared to be in his mid thirties with black, longer than shoulder length, pin straight hair. His skin was lightly tanned and a black uniform of some sort covered an obviously well toned body. He bowed regally to Harry, letting that hair spill over his shoulders. He was handsome in the least.

"My name is Creed. I am your shadow, my childe. I am yours to protect you, guide you and give you companionship throughout your long, immortal life." He said calmly, his voice low and very pleasing to the ears.

Voldemort did not seem pleased by this new curve ball. Harry knew that he wasn't the type to share. Oh well.

"Hello, Creed. It's nice to meet you. This is Voldemort, my…lover, I think."

Tom nodded in agreement and Harry could already feel the tension in the room. Uh oh. Competiton with the Dark Lord. This was going to be very interesting.

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	4. Life and Death are Not Forces to be Reckoned With

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Four Life and Death are Not Forces to be Reckoned With.

Creed stood by Harry's side while the teen watched his beloved sit and listen to the Dark Lord take reports from his followers. Harry was dressed in a cloak that hid every inch of his body from the floor up. Voldemort thought it suited his dark demeanor perfectly. It hugged his top and hips like a skin and gave him room to walk just after it fell over his hips. His locket was sitting snug, once more, around the boy's neck. He had decided in the end that it was safer around Harry's neck since he couldn't be killed. However, he wasn't willing to give up his new ally's identity just yet. Harry was, now that he had fully taken on the role of Horcrux, gleaning a great deal of information and abilities from the link between them. He had utilized that and had set up a portkey that would activate once they were ready to go into battle or Harry wanted them. It would transport the Inferi to his location. Voldemort was very pleased with this.

" Lucius, how goes our efforts in the Ministry?"

The blonde stepped forward with an air of royal dignity and grace befitting his status. He bowed.

"The Minister is all yours, my Lord. He sends his regards and thanks you once more for the proof of Dumbledore's treachery." Ah, if only they knew. Fudge would crap a cow if he knew that Dumbledore had actually murdered the Boy-Who-Lived. "He is lifting the bans on magical creatures that you ordered and extends his invitation for you to come, in disguise of course, to his Christmas party to see the fruits of your labors."

"Very well. I will be there with a special guest of my own. Tell him to keep up the exemplary work and that he will be very well rewarded."

Harry let Creed's smoky form coil around him, fading back into the shadow form he had first seen him in. It seemed to intimidate the Death Eaters more that way. Voldemort listened to two more reports before Bellatrix stepped forward at his permission.

"My Lord, may I ask…Who is your companion up there?" She asked in that rich and darkly beautiful voice of hers.

Voldemort gestured for Harry to step closer to him which the teen complied to without fuss. He did not ask that he lower his hood but instead allowed Harry's cold as the grave power to flow out to wash over the Death Eaters in nearly tangible waves. He was learning that, since his body was no longer alive, it did

not pose as a hindrance any longer and he had almost unlimited access to his magic. Also, since he had died when it was still developing, he could continue to make it grow and grow as he wished. It acted like a sponge now, easily able to absorb new things. Dumbledore had really fucked up.

"This is my partner, the Inferi Lord. He will be treated as I am. His will is merely an extension of my own. To disobey him is to disobey me."

They all bowed and he allowed them to leave. Creed stirred restlessly around Harry's body. As soon as they were gone, Voldemort sighed and his body visibly relaxed. Harry watched this with an unusual interest. To see someone like Voldemort merely shrug off the deadly but temporarily tame air that he held when he was acting as the Dark Lord as if it were merely a robe and then adopt a much more relaxed, easy going one was a truly eye catching transformation. Tom looked at him before standing, looking down at him in the depths of the hooded cloak. His aristocratic hands lifted the cowl from his head and lowered it so he could see him clearly. Creed moved away from them, giving them both a moment of pretended privacy.

"What do you think of Fudge so far, Harry?" The Dark Lord asked in a low whisper as if they were speaking of far more intimate things.

The teen Inferi shrugged blandly but a smirk lifted the corners of his mouth.

"It is better to bring him to the Dark than have him die a martyr, I suppose. And he is easily manipulated if he is as deliriously stupid as I have seen from your memories of him. It would be far more difficult to take the Ministry by force than to have it's own ruler hand it over."

Tom agreed but was surprised at how quickly and easily Harry was bonding with his soul piece and himself as well. He had expected at least some resistance from the previous Savior. Creed took on his more human appearance again and stepped up to them both.

"And what of Dumbledore?" He asked in voice that said he clearly did not think much of the man. Or of Voldemort for that matter.

Harry and Tom shared a considering look before the teen turned back to his shadow.

"We kill him."

"The particulars can be decided by myself and Harry at a later time. After all, good things come to those who have patience." Tom said briskly, leading them both out of the meeting hall.

Harry, upon getting to their rooms, went into the library. Creed, however did not follow him. He remained to stare Voldemort down.

"You do not think much of me, do you?" Tom asked him out right while going through his desk for something.

Creed's eyes narrowed.

"No, I do not. I think that Harry needs someone who is like him. You are not."

"Not his age?"

"Not dead. He is an Inferi, you are human. Does that not concern you at all? That your lover is a corpse?" Creed asked while keeping his calm.

Tom merely shrugged.

"There will come a time when Harry will need someone and you will not be able to help him. He will need another undead."

"And I suppose that you want to be that undead?"

Creed was the one this time who did not give an answer. He smirked before wavering from existence only to reappear at Harry's side in the library.

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	5. And the Red Death Held Dominion Over All

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Five

Dumbledore sat at his desk, thinking over the last week's occurances. When he had told Hermione and Ron that that Harry had been attacked by Inferi, they had been horrified and had cried and blubbered for an entire hour. He had asked them to please keep it quiet for the time and when they had refused, he had regrettably had to Obliviate them. Oh well. Harry wouldn't miss them. He snorted at the thought. So…Four Horcruxes down so far. Four to go. After he had killed the Potter brat, it would be harder to deal with the media and account for what had happened but it would be much easier too, because he would be able to rally the troops behind the death of their "Savior" even though their Savior was actually just another of Voldemort's bastardly and demonic creations. Things were going his way and he liked it.

Creed had been staying incredibly close to him for the past three days, even going so far as to sit at the end of his and Voldemort's bed at night. It had definitely kept them from having sex. Harry believed that the Shadow was doing it specifically to put off the Dark Lord. He seemed incredibly possessive. Well, so did Voldemort. Harry rolled his eyes. He had two possessive men in his life now. One that was suppose to protect him and one that was working with him, and of course being his lover. He could feel his life becoming more and more complicated by the hour. Voldemort seemed to take Creed's behavior in stride but Harry could feel his fury through the bond. He wasn't sure but he guessed that Creed knew that they had been to bed before he had arrived. Fortunately, especially for the frustrated Voldemort, Creed had become increasingly restless over the night.

"Creed, why have you suddenly developed a twitch?" Harry asked offhandedly much to his lover's amusement.

Creed glowered at him.

" I'm being summoned by your maker. I must go."

Harry raised an eye but nodded. His Shadow seemed increasingly hesitant to leave but after a moment of staring each other down, Creed disappeared. He gave Voldemort a wicked grin and the two hurried away to their bedroom. If anything could be said about the two, they certainly didn't waste any time.

Harry reveled at the feeling coursing through his body. He whimpered beneath the Dark Lord, biting his lip to stem the sound. Tom panted above him, his crimson eyes glazed over with desire. With their souls, minds and auras as meshed as they were, it did not take long for them to finish each other off. Neither noticed the furious Shadow in the corner until their minds had unfogged completely. Tom glanced at him blankly before leaning back against the bed spread to watch their interaction with intrigue. He would not interfere, of that Harry was positive.

"Creed."

"Lovely, you can't even stay off of each other for ten minutes while I go to get instruction from your maker?" He hissed, venom thick in his voice.

Harry raised an eyebrow in his direction. Damn this whole jealous situation. It was stupidity. They all had to deal with each other.

" Tom is my lover, Creed. It is perfectly natural that we have sex."

His Shadow visibly flinched but merely sent the intrigued Voldemort a look that would melt steel before disappearing. His lover gave a telling look. Harry shrugged.

~o~

Hermione watched Ron playing chess by himself on the table next to her by himself. There was something very disconcerting about that one image. It was almost as if there were something missing. All day, the people around her would be talking about something and then almost mention something but then they would suddenly stop, unsure of what they had been about to say. It had seemed to spread through the school so she knew that it wasn't a mere coincidence. She suspected some sort of strong, contagious memory charm. What they had been forced to forget was a mystery to her but she knew that the only two people strong enough to perform such a charm were the Headmaster and You-Know-Who and the Dark Lord did not have access to Hogwarts. You-Know-Who? That didn't sound correct. She felt as if she should boldly and fearlessly say his name. In her dreams, she had seen a smiling boy with sad green eyes that never seemed to lighten much no matter how much he laughed. She dreamt of him speaking to her as though they were very close but when his mouth opened, no sound came out. Hermione couldn't put a name to that lovely face and it maddened her. Who was it?! She had not expressed her thoughts to Ron or anyone else for that matter. She just knew that the Headmaster would do something terrible if he knew that she was fighting his memory charm. She had always been thirsty for knowledge, ever since she was a little girl. This situation was hardly any different. She wanted the information badly. Badly enough to consult with the dark side of Hogwarts. They were her only hope. Perhaps she should ask Draco Malfoy. When she had passed the boy in the hallway, he had given her a strange look, as if he too realized something was missing. Maybe he knew what that something was. Maybe it had something to do with the boy in her dreams. He was her only lead at the moment and she had never once left something she wanted uncovered alone. Her parents often told her that she should be a detective. She agreed with them.


	6. Dead Men Do Tell Tales

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Six Dead Men Do Tell Tales

Harry watched his Shadow pace around the room with a restlessness he had never seen in him before. How…unusual. Creed hovered on top of the window looking moody.

"Creed, what is your malfunction tonight? Your more nervous than a virgin on her wedding night." Harry said sarcastically.

The man glared at him, hovering up close in his face all of the sudden.

"I wouldn't have any malfunction as you so cleverly put it, my love, if I didn't have to wonder what you were off doing with that Dark Lord of yours. Oh, wait!" He laughed bitterly," I already know! I saw it firsthand!"

Harry rewarded him with another flat look. He hadn't been able to feel since he had come back but he knew that his Shadow was quite enamored with him. Even if he no longer understood such things. He did understand lust, though. And pain and blood. He understood that broiling, churning, burning hatred that gave him reason to keep going. Creed seemed to pick up on his thoughts because his anger sucked back into himself like a vacuum and his face closed up. Suddenly, the emotion he was witnessing was identified and Harry grinned wickedly.

"You're jealous? Of Voldemort? Wow, Creed. Unbelievable."

Creed's reaction was surprising and immediate. He was just suddenly…there, with his lips on Harry's own. His tongue forcing it's way into his mouth. It was…delicious. Creed pulled back just enough to see his reaction, his face, brushing his fingertips along the teen's cheek.

"You do not belong in this world any longer, lovely. You are a ghost, clinging to the world of the living with everything you have. It is…inappropriate. You should be with your own kind, not gallivanting off with the Dark Lord."

That made the dead boy frown. Jealousy was familiar too, vaguely. He had no need for it but he understood it well enough. 'When one wants what belongs to another', his mind supplied for him. Interesting. Creed watched him for a long moment before he finally backed off. Harry sat

back to ponder over the experience. That was definitely new for him. His Shadow stayed encompassed in the strange but welcome silence for the rest of the hour.

It wasn't until he had settled to his fate, and walked into the bathroom to shower that the first glimmer of something slipped through his defenses. He was balking at the bathtub with disgust. At first, it was nothing noticeable. Just a slight irritation in his head, more of a twitch of the instincts than anything. By the time he had, grudgingly, finished his shower, it had become a full blown siren. Something was coming. Something of the not-so-living variety. He quickly dressed in the goth clothes he had bought for himself: tall, striped black and white socks, knee length Tripp pants, and a white collared shirt with a black half-tie. Creed was on alert once he got back into his bedroom. Harry threw open the window, leaning out of it, eager for a better sight. Too bad Tom wasn't there to see it.

"What are they?" He whispered as he watched the black mass of shadow approach the school.

"They are the Loivwe. The UnForgiven Ones. They are the darkest of all exiled from the Higher Plane for crimes against humanity and immortals alike. They were cursed into their state of decay, never resting, never dying. They breathe disease and live on despair. They could feel your Awakening and have come at their Lord's Call." Creed explained with disdain in his voice.

Harry frowned.

"But I never Called-"

His Shadow shushed him with a quick response and a humorous laugh.

"Oh, you did indeed, my little one. The instant you Awakened, every undead on this Plane and the others could feel it." He laughed but the humor had a bite of edge to it.

"But they are not Inferi. I have no power over them."

" You do in fact have power over them. The Inferi Lord is not just the ruler of the Inferi, Harry. He has jurisdiction over all undead, a solid alliance with the Vampires and the Dementors and of course, the Dark. It is the choice of the Inferi Lord whether the undead remain Neutral or who they support."

Harry raised an eyebrow. Undead politics, huh? Interesting.

"That's convenient." He mused with a wry grin.

" Extremely."

One broom, a Disillusionment charm and a cranky Shadow later, and he was safely down in the forest. Already he could feel the Loivwe's power seeping through the trees, reaching out for him. He accepted it with the eagerness of a child getting their Christmas presents.

-.-

The UnForgiven Ones were beautiful in Harry's eyes. They were perfect. Their leader, a great rotting thing that easily towered over him at seven feet, was a beautiful monstrosity. With every breath from his knarled maw it sounded as if a great animal was roosted in his chest and struggling to breathe through the jutting out bones and the drooping, decaying skin. It's greyed eyes rolled in his skull while his hulking body leaned over to observe the childe before him.

" You…are…the…Inferi Lord now,…child?" It rasped, reaching out to run the exposed bone of his fingers down Harry's face.

The huge crowd of UnForgiven breathed in one breath as one, almost as if scenting him. Or scenting his power.

"I am."

The chilling voice laughed and much to the UnForgiven's surprise, Harry placed his own hand on the undead's torso. He, aside from the almost ghost like Creed and his own Inferi horde, was the first undead he had met.

"You…are…powerful… for one so…young. We…are ready…to follow…you."

"I have nothing for you to do at the moment although we will for certain be siding with the Dark Lord Voldemort. It was Dumbledore who killed me in the first place." Harry confessed lightly, exploring the corpse's body.

"Very well…We…will…go to ground…for the time…until…your Call."

The teen nodded and allowed them to turn around to go.


	7. That Did To Death The Innocence

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Chapter Seven That Did To Death The Innocence 

'…And let a Sabbath Song go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel no wrong.'- Poe, Lenore

Tom held the newspaper in a still grip, knowing fully that Harry could see it. The teen sneered in disgust but a trembling ran through his body. Was he, perhaps, starting to feel again? The rage was there as well, yes, but there was also a deep, hardened grief that the teen could not understand. On the front page was a picture of an elaborate coffin with a griffin engraved on the front. The headlines were bold. 

' Savior of the Light to be interred in Godric's Hollow. Funeral open for masses.' 

Creed had been spending more and more time with his maker in the cave by the shore and was no where to be found again. That was just fine though. More time he got to spend with Tom.

"I wonder whose corpse he stuck in the ground with my name on it." The irate teen mused out loud.

He wasn't bothering to hide his feelings on the matter from Tom. The man could sense his moods easily after all. They did share a mind after all. He was getting nothing but a calm collectedness from his lover. It was odd. It almost bothered him even though Harry could not pinpoint exactly why. The man had been very pleased when he had told him about the Loivwe.

"A prisoner's carcass no doubt. Polyjuiced more than likely." There was a tense silence between them for a stretch before Tom turned to him with an unreadable expression in place, " Do you want to go?"

Harry thought it over while he skimmed the article.

' Today is a tragic day indeed for the entirety of our world. It was today, on the 19th of May, that the death of the Boy-Who-Lived was officially announced. Harry Potter was attacked by Inferi on the orders of You-Know-Who and the monstrosities pulled the teen to his death. His body was unable to be recovered. will be buried in his family's old home in Godric's Hollow beside the graves of his parents. Inferi, as is widely known, are the reanimated corpses of victims that the Dark Lord has called back into his service. His mentor, the famous Headmaster Dumbledore was present when Potter was killed. He reports that he did everything possible to stop the Inferi from killing his beloved student but the Dark Lord had triumphed over the teen for the last time. The funeral is open to the public and is to be held at sunset, 6:00, at Godric's Hollow with a funeral march starting from the home of Albus Dumbledore and ending at the Potter's home. This reporter hopes to see as many there as possible so that we may all mourn together. 'The greatest loss in life is not dying, but what dies inside us while we live'- Epitaph of James Potter.' Article by Rita Skeeter.

Harry looked at the innocent looking paper with a blank stare. Tom was watching him carefully as if he wasn't sure what to expect from the teenager.

"Alright."

Ironically enough, it rained on the day of his funeral. All manner of wizards had lined up for the mile long trek through Godric's Hollow to the home of the Potters. From where he stood with Tom, Harry could see the entire Order of the Phoenix, the Weasley's, surprisingly, the Malfoy's as well as many other pureblood families. Neville was there as well with his grandmother in her wheelchair. The rain pelted down on their glamoured faces but Harry couldn't feel the cold. He was dead. Temperature mattered little to him. The march began solemnly, a dirge playing as they walked. At the front of the procession, Harry could see his murderer. Albus Dumbledore. He was heading off in front of the casket. Harry felt rage swell in him and his eyes flashed dangerously. He had to hold back though. It wasn't time yet. Tom gripped his hand. He could feel what he was at the moment. Their bond was developing nicely.

'Are you alright, Harry?' Tom whispered in his mind quietly, the solemn air making him quiet.

This was his lover's funeral after all. Tom couldn't help but feel some sadness and respect. It was odd. He had known that Harry was dead all along but it wasn't until his funeral, even his fake one, that he actually felt it. It was easy to see Harry as living or to forget that he was actually dead when he breathed, spoke, kissed him, touched him at night…It was a simple thing to forget. Harry even kept warming charms on his body when there was a chance that they would be intimate. He had gotten used to his lover's quirks and oddities during their short time together. What was once strange to him had become…endearing. Tom wasn't used to having tender thoughts towards anyone, let alone the child that had once been his enemy but none the less, he enjoyed Harry's company and not just for the sex. He was clever and his match in every way.

'This is bullocks. Are you in my head?'

'Yes. Go on.'

'It's just sick. I'm attending my own funeral and no one even knows I'm here. I know half of these people and none of them even realize that their precious Headmaster is a monster. That their Savior is actually in their midst.' Harry replied stoically but a sliver of bitterness crept into his voice.

Tom squeezed his hand gently and they walked along with the rest of the crowd. The walk to the Potter estate was a short one but it was filled with the sniffles and sobs of the heavy hearted. Harry looked around the place with a keen eye. He had never before seen the place where it had all started. The place where he and Tom had first become bonded. Back away from the road, in the shelter of a weeping willow and the overgrown hedges surrounding it, stood two stone monuments beside a third with a hole before it. On the first, was the name Lily Potter nee Evans, with the inscription ' E Strano To Sempre Libero'. Ever free my heart must be. The second tomb stone read James Potter. His epitaph was an excerpt of a poem it seemed and Harry vaguely wondered who had written it. ' What shall we pray for those who have fought, who's voices in vain and lives were for naught? God give them peace. And what shall we pray for those who have lost, not sight of the goal, but sight of the cost. God give them peace.' Harry's own tombstone was smaller but just as lovely in a sad way. Severus, he realized, was standing

nearby with a dark countenance. The silver stone was inlaid with a black raven just taking flight. The bird hissed protectively at the gatherers protectively. A raven, Tom thought with a small smirk of amusement, perfect. Harry tugged on his hand silently, urging him to follow. He had had enough and it was time for them to go. The two broke away from the funeral party and apparated away once they were free of the anti-apperition wards.

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	8. Dying Is The Day Worth Living For

Hey guys! Here is another chapter in which time has skipped ahead a bit. Like I said earlier, I know that this is going quickly so do forgive me. I am aware. I hope all of you enjoy it regardless though and that you review me your thoughts on it as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Eight Dying is the day worth Living for

Harry closed the door of his lover's room silently, running a hand through his hair to straighten the mussed locks. Another amazing night. He was purring with satisfaction. He made his way down the hallway and almost got to the door at the end of the hallway when his thoughts of Voldemort's sleeping form were interrupted.

"It won't last you know. This tryst you have with the Dark Lord."

Harry turned around and Creed was standing against the wall right behind him. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"My tryst is none of your concern." He answered calmly, wary as ever.

Creed smiled darkly, pushing away from the wall and approaching the object of his desires.

"Do you really think that he will bare the feel of your cold flesh for long when he could have any living creature grace his bed."

Harry wasn't going to admit it but his question sunk his claws deep into his cold heart. The knowledge infuriated him because he knew that that was Creed's intention. It angered him even more that he knew that he was giving the bastard what he wanted.

"That is once again, none of your concerned." He hissed, turning away.

Harry felt his wrist enclosed in an iron-like grip. His body was spun around and Creed's body met his defiantly.

"It is my concern, lovely, because I should be the one who's company you seek out. Your Dark Lord is merely a hindrance. A temporary hindrance."

His eyes narrowed. Had Creed known that that topic had crept into his brain for the past month? What was wrong with securing his admittedly long, bleak future? Nothing. He gave the shadow a long, considering look.

"I will come to you only if Voldemort ever rejects me for that reason." He said and pushed away from him.

He knew as he walked away that Creed had a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I'll see you in my arms soon, lovely." He heard him say as he left, somewhat angrily.

Harry felt and odd sort of dizziness come over him as he stood at the table, planning with the others. His hand fell away from where he had been pointing out something in Voldemort's plans. Something wasn't right. Creed's eyes hand never left him during the entire meeting.

"Harry?" Tom asked, noting his frown.

He didn't feel himself fall, only suddenly saw Creed's face hovering over him and strong arms around him. What was this? He could feel Tom shaking him but he couldn't respond. A cold, freezing power was filling him, spilling over to swirl around the room. Apparently, his magic hadn't been ready to die yet either. Blackness slammed into him.

Tom fumed outside Creed's room. The Shadow had taken HIS Harry inside and shoved him out saying that he would only be a hindrance. A hindrance his arse! Harry's cold magic pulsed out of the door, tugging at him almost. He had had enough. He wanted to see Harry right now! He deserved to know what was going on under his own roof! Tom pushed open the door, pointedly ignoring Creed's hiss of disapproval. The air in the room was frigid but charged. Harry was sitting up straight as a board on the bed, his hands fisted in the sheets. It looked as though Creed had tried to get him to lie down but Harry had refused. Normally, Tom would be overjoyed to see his beloved awake under these conditions but there was something seriously wrong with Harry. His emerald eyes were glazed over in a way that he had only seen on the dead and the teen stared ahead unseeingly. It cut the Dark Lord a little too close to home. A high pitched whine issued from his lover's throat and Harry pitched forward, burying his face in the sheets as if to block something out. Creed was suddenly at Tom's elbow.

" You need to leave."

Tom glared at him with pure malice. He would never admit it but he was jealous of the Shadow. He was jealous of Creed's close connection with Harry and of all the time he spent with him.

"I will not leave! I have a right to know what exactly is wrong with him!" He hissed furiously.

How dare that Shadow try to take his Harry from him! How dare he try to keep them apart! Creed looked like he would argue at first but stopped himself. A small smirk played on his lips.

"Suit Yourself."

Harry's whine quickly turned into a growl and he was looking straight at him. 

"What's wrong with him?" Tom asked, suddenly a little worried.

Creed was watching Harry like a cat with a small bird. He had been waiting for this moment for years now. It almost seemed too sweet now that it had finally arrived. At last, everything was falling into place.

"Harry, no matter how human and living he may seem, is still nothing more than a corpse. He is an Inferi, and, like all Inferi, at the heart of his being he is ruled by his baser instincts. This is a manifestation of that. Harry will kill and feed and go back to ground if I let him. You, however, are the only living thing in this room. Right now, you're nothing but food to him." Creed explained with a purr, basking in the cool magic.

Tom looked green. The growling had continued. Harry wanted to eat him? Before, the fact that his lover was dead already had been easily pushed aside. Harry talked, breathed if he chose, thought and felt. Now, the Dark Lord was forced to stare the fact in its ugly face. Harry was a corpse. No matter how he looked at it. Tom spun on his heel and left the room.

It had been three days since Harry had Changed. He was asleep now, a sign that the change was over. The Dark Lord had done as was predicted. He had shunned the boy. In all fairness, though, Creed had not been entirely truthful. Harry would not have killed and fed if a Dominant had Tamed him. Only he could do it though. Only another undead. The teen stirred, stretching out on the bed further. His eyes opened and a frown settled on his lovely features. Tom, he knew the boy had sensed his fading presence, had been by to give his lover's Farewell. A Dark Lord's Goodbye.

"He saw…"

Creed nodded, tactfully staying blank.

"He said he could no longer be your lover but the two of you were to keep a good work relationship instead."

Harry's body stiffened and, almost timidly, he walked out of the room, ignoring the silent shadow for the moment. He opened the door next to his and stared. The room was empty. The bed and the wardrobe was there, but it looked like any other guest room. He felt pain bubble in his chest although he didn't understand it. Why was he in such… pain? Creed stepped up behind him. Harry stared at the barren room still feeling shaky and weak until his Shadow pulled him away quietly. For reasons he didn't understand, he let Creed pull him away. What else could he do? Nothing.

~O~

Tom stared into the fire, the image of Harry's snarling face etched into his thoughts, those dead green eyes boring into his soul. Harry was dead. There was nothing he could do about it. He had been foolish to get into a relationship with an Inferi, no matter how lifelike he could pretend to be. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Review my lovely reviewers!


	9. To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Nine To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

Harry sat in the main foyer with Creed standing worriedly at his side. His mind had been going nonstop for three days. He had not gone back to their bedrooms except to collect the things he had. Next to nothing. He was formulating his plans silently. His shadow had until then occasionally interrupted his thoughts to try and incite a response from him which Harry replied to with a frown and an irritated wave. Now, after three days of thinking and the locket sitting heavy and cold against his skin, he came to his final, unhappy conclusion. The very thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. Harry sneered before turning to Creed.

"I have to go back to Hogwarts."

After three days of silent brooding, his statement shocked the shadow. Creed stared at him, too awed to even speak. Harry's emerald eyes pinned him in place.

"Do you care to explain what happened to me since you seem to have all the answers?" He asked with a trace of bitterness creeping into his voice.

Creed sat next to him quietly, running his hand through the teen's raven hair. He sighed heavily.

"Ever since you Awakened, you have retained your human mind. Normal Inferi do not. So, as a way to bring you solidly into your fully Inferi state, to make you permanently a part of this world, you had to become a true Inferi first. The soul inside you did not die so it interfered with your initial changing. If this had not had happened, you would have begun to rot eventually while your consciousness remained. It's not a pleasant experience, let me tell you." He explained while Harry grimaced at the image.

Unpleasant indeed. Harry got up fluidly, stretching his body like a cat would. He walked gracefully as a dancer would. It was a movement that once again captivated Creed's senses. The shadow was once more reminded of how much he wanted Harry. The teen caught his heavy look and, with a pang of something as close to grief as he could get, recalled their bargain. It seemed a lifetime since that night. Harry felt as if he had been a different person then. He knew logically that he had not changed but he knew he wasn't the same.

A soft sound made Harry pause in his thoughts. Creed stiffened and his slanted, fey like almond eyes flicked towards the door that belonged to what was the Meeting Hall. A small, whimpering came from within and Harry grinned visciously. Perhaps he would leave his beloved a parting gift. A token of just exactly what he thought of Tom's actions. He strode into the room with a bright smile.

Severus Snape had spent a great deal of his time hating James Potter. As he aged and got older, Harry Potter emerged and gave him a new outlet for his revulsion. The child's funeral had been a sad day indeed. He had spent so much time hating him that he did not know what to do now that he was gone. He wasn't sure how to feel. He had not been able to get the boy from his thoughts over the past few weeks. Severus knew that the boy's death had been no simple accident. The likelyhood of the teenager, however brash he was, being killed by Inferi was extremely unlikely. The only Inferi in existence belonged to his master. Voldemort had created them after all. Those Inferi were secreted away in a place only Lord Voldemort knew and kept dormant at all times, not wandering about in muggle towns. The Headmaster had taken Potter there and left him to die. He didn't buy for a single moment that Dumbledore did not know how to defeat the Inferi. HE knew how to stave them off. Ever since the boy's absence from Hogwarts, not a word had been spoken of him in the school. In fact, he had heard several of the students Potter had been well acquainted with speak of him as merely The Boy-Who-Lived. It was as if Dumbledore had found a way to completely erase his existence from the school. But while the students may have forgotten him, Hogwarts itself did not. He could feel the school's very essence searching it's child out. And it's child Harry had been. Hogwarts held a certain maternal instinct toward it's greatest students, especially parentless ones. He blamed a certain childless Founder. It came as a surprise to him then, that Hermione Granger had come to him in the evening after dinner. She had begged to know what had happened and asked if it had anything to do with Harry Potter. She even knew of a spell that she had concluded had been used on the students. Looking over it, Severus knew that she was bright but her level of intelligence astounded him. He was stirring a potion even then to remove the spell's effects on her. Himself, they had decided, had not been effected because of his powerful Occlumency skills. Finally, hours after he had instructed the girl to go to bed and not to breathe a word of what she had learned, the potion was simmering at three in the morning.

His head felt heavy with fatigue but he just poured himself a glass of fire whiskey and got a pepper-up potion from his stocks. This was no time for sleeping. What had really happened to Harry Potter then? Why had Dumbledore killed him? What terrible secret had gone with Potter to his early grave? He was so busy with his thoughts that he did not see the figure standing in his personal study.

" Still alive, Professor? It is a wonder."

The voice shocked him so badly that the glass of fire whiskey fell from his shaking hands to shatter on the floor. He was crazy. It was official. He had finally lost it. Harry Potter was NOT standing beside his couch. Harry Potter was dead. He looked over again just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but, no. Potter was still there. Buggering hell.

"Oh, Snape, pull yourself together. I never thought I would live to see the day when you would be shocked." Harry said lightly, laughing at his own joke.

Severus found enough of himself to glare at the teen.

"Potter, I don't know why you've decided to haunt me of all people or what the hell is going on but I am still your professor and deserve that respect!" He sneered, banishing his mess from the floor.

Harry smirked and the potion's master noted the blood staining his hands. Was it his? Was Potter a ghost come to haunt him for his hatred?

"I suppose I should explain. No, I am not a ghost although, yes, I am extremely dead. I'm an Inferi. The Inferi Lord, if you will." Severus couldn't contain his shock once more, " Yes, I see you recall. I did see you at the Death Eater meeting and, yes, until recently I was boffing your Lord. Although, the space has opened up if you want it." This last was said with an unconcerned air as if it hurt a great deal for him to say it and he wanted to mask that pain.

Severus immediately poured himself another glass of the potent liquor much to Potter's amusement. At his side stood a man who looked very unhappy to be there. It was the same man that had been with his Lord's partner at the Death Eater meeting. Everything was true.

"So why come here then? Why me, Potter? Why come back I wonder at all?"

To this, Harry's smirk faltered and the boy sighed heavily.

"I need your help."

Great. Another one.

Tom knew as soon as he stepped into his previous manor, that Harry was gone. It brought him an unhappy relief. He wasn't prepared to deal with him yet. He could feel through the link Harry's tentative emotions. He knew the moment that Harry had woken and had felt the grief that had clouded his senses when he had undoubtedly discovered his betrayal. Harry would no doubt have seen it as a betrayal. Tom tried not to feel guilty. He tried to tell himself that he had done the best thing. Harry was dead after all.

Just because he's dead doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings.

Like he had said in the first place: Harry breathed when he chose, felt and spoke. He just came to get some things from his rooms. He wanted them and then he was out. Quick and easy. He tried not to feel the uneasiness and merely shoved it away. He had no need to feel uneasy or guilty. He was the Dark Lord and if he wanted to break off a relationship because his partner was a Night of the Living Dead reject, then he could. He would not feel guilty. Tom opened his chamber doors and walked in, immediately knowing that something wasn't right. His rooms smelled like death. Recent death and blood. He was halfway across the room when he spun around and grimaced. Nailed to the back of his bedroom door was the corpse of Peter Pettigrew. Beside it on the wall, written in blood was a message.

'SCREW YOU'.


	10. One Fine Day In The Middle of the Night, Two Dead Boys Got Up To Fight

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Chapter Ten

Severus sighed, looking over his latest work.

"And as long as you remember to keep the warming spells up and to act human, you should be alright." He said stiffly and watched Creed nod with an impressed air.

Harry hair had become tame and long, reaching his mid back in graceful waves. He had dimmed down the boy's vibrant eyes. They were explaining away all of the potions he'd have to take and the deep bags under his eyes as Draden's Syndrom, an ailment that acted like extreme anemia and had no cure. It was known to occasionally strike Wizarding children. He was wearing glamours that made him look more like a young, aristocratic Tom Riddle than Harry Potter. Even Dumbledore would be fooled. Easy. If anyone were to discover that he had an affinity for the dead, they could just as easily say that Harry was a Necromancer. After all, being the Inferi Lord, he did have control over many types of undead.

"Alright. Now what should your new name be? You obviously cannot go about calling yourself Harry Potter."

Creed walked around him, inspecting his ward with a thoughtful expression.

"Sable Noa. It means Black Motion. Like how you thought that the UnForgiven looked like a moving black curtain." He suggested to which Harry grinned.

"I like it. But what will my last name be? I can't use Riddle. Dumbledore will guess a connection to Voldemort right away." Harry gave Severus a wicked grin. "Any suggestions, professor?" He purred.

Severus grimaced at the way the Inferi was looking at him. Potter wanted something, that much was obvious.

"Fine, fine, you damned brat. I'll tell the old man that you're my distant cousin on my father's side. Happy?" Snape growled angrily.

If Potter wasn't considered his lord, he would beat the brat to death. Again. It was a pity that he was already dead. Three weeks until the start of term. He would have to get the appropriate form filled out and he would have to put up with Potter until then. It wouldn't do for him to tell the Headmaster that 'Sable' was his cousin, but the boy not being staying with him. It would look suspicious at best and would give away his cover at worst.

"Oh, and one more thing. I don't want a single word of this leaking to Voldemort, Severus. I mean it. I want him to find me on his own. If he wants my alliance so badly, then he can correct his fuck ups on his own." The boy hissed, his eyes glowing Killing Curse green.

Severus frowned but nodded. What had happened between the two to make the previously emotionless Inferi hurt and his lord to risk his biggest alliance? Something bad? It must be. He would have to ask his 'cousin' another time, though. They had much work to do if they were going to make this believable.

Lucius watched his lord with some amount of trepidation. The man was furious. He wasn't sure he had ever seen him so angry.

"My Lord, may I speak freely?" He asked calmly, receiving only a glare and a nod from the man. "I must know what troubles you so. What has you so vexed?"

Voldemort threw his wine glass across the room so it shattered against the wall.

"Teenagers, Lucius. Bloody teenagers have me vexed. One in particular." He hissed angrily.

Lucius frowned curiously.

"A teenager, my Lord?"

"The Inferi Lord. He has left the manor and Pettigrew's rotting carcass nailed to the back of my bedroom door. I have no way of knowing where the petulant brat has gone nor any way of contacting him except by owl which eh would sooner kill and feed to his undead than answer. He is making so I am completely at the mercy of his whims and it is maddening! How dare he do such a stupid, reckless thing!"

Reckless? Why would him leaving be reckless? It seemed rather well thought out, if Lucius had to say. Something about this child seemed to get beneath his Lord's skin than just a wayward ally. Perhaps…A wayward lover? Curious. Very curious. He couldn't imagine sleeping with an Inferi but who was he to judge his master?

"Perhaps, my Lord, you should attempt to owl him and makes amends or at least placate his anger? The Inferi Lord is your biggest ally. It would be disastrous if he decided to side with the Headmaster over a small trifling argument."

When Voldemort just looked hesitant about speaking to the boy again, Lucius really became curious. What had happened between them?

Harry sat on the bed he had been given with a small smirk while Severus lectured him.

"And remember, Sable, you are looked at as a Snape, now so do try and pretend to be dignified. I expect you to behave yourself and to reign in that Gryffindor hotheadedness, do you understand? Those emotions of your will give you away." He sneered at Sable's smirk.

"So act just like you? I wouldn't worry about my emotions. Death has an interesting way of sucking them from you. Especially since I'm only animated because of Voldemort's soul piece." He responded stoically.

The potion's master just glowered.

"Well, then, brat, I suppose that we should run along and get those papers from Gringotts. We can get your school things while we're out as well."

Sable nodded, ready to begin his new life as a Snape. He already had everything worked out. When he was unable to live here anymore, he would move on to another area and then another. Hopefully, by then, his mission would be completed and he wouldn't have to move anywhere. Three years would be the limit that he could stay in one place. After that, he would either have to go to ground or move on if Dumbledore wasn't dead.

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	11. To The Well-Organized Mind, Death Is But The Next Great Adventure

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Chapter Eleven

Harry quickly found living with Severus to be quite enjoyable. It was always quiet, and his host spent most of his days in his lab. They had decided that since Harry had most of Voldemort's knowledge, he would be more than proficient in potions among other things but they still met up in the evenings to read in silent companionship or to discuss things as they were. It was nice. They came up with many answers to the vast number of questions Harry had and many more theories. Harry spent most of his time in the library, reading through tome after tome of ancient knowledge. He had read everything that had caught his eye by the time that September the first rolled around. Severus came to him especially early that day, still wrapped in the depths of the library, surrounded by books once more. He rarely moved from there.

"You read quite a lot, Potter." The man stated simply, raising an eyebrow at the dark nature of the books.

'Necromancy for Beginners'. 'One Thousand Ways To Kill Discreetly'. 'Dark Creatures and Their Natures'. ' Spell Crafting'. 'Undead: Eyes From The Grave'. 'Torture, Maim, and Curse Without Your Enemy's Knowledge'.

"I don't need to sleep and there is hardly anything more enjoyable, and necessary, than expanding your knowledge. Especially in my case. I'm afraid as a human, I was quite stupid. Now that I have a lot of Tom's knowledge, I realize that. I want to be ready for anything that comes my way. Including an angry Dark Lord."

Severus sat down in front of him and crossed his hands over his stomach as he usually did when they were about to have an in depth conversation. At this sign, Harry sighed and closed his book, giving his host his full attention. The potion's master's mouth lifted slightly at the corners.

"What happened between you and Tom? I know that you strung up Pettigrew. Don't get me wrong, the filthy rat deserved it, but why bother?"

Harry gave him a wry grin just as Creed materialized at his side.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I'm not a woman but the same principle applies. Tom screwed me over at a very inopportune time and I find myself suddenly very reluctant to help him. I am under no illusions. He needs my alliance to win this war. Hi humans will fall to the ground before the Ministry and the Order's combined army but my undead will merely get back up. They will brush off their attacks as is they were nothing more than an annoyance and they will feed. Tom needs me so I would like him to make it up to me on his own. It was his fuck up, so he must correct it." Harry explained.

Severus nodded and snapped his fingers. Their house elf, Mimi, popped in with a bow and a large box in hand. There was a letter attached to the top of it with Harry's name on it. It was Tom's handwriting.

"This came for you last night. I didn't feel the need to disturb you so I waited until now to give it to you. Tom sent it." Severus explained and handed Harry the box.

The teen wisely opened the letter first. A slow smirk spread over his lips.

'Harry,

I realize that you are probably more than furious with me. I understand. It wasn't fair for me to just up and abandon you just because I couldn't handle what you are. I know that you realize by now that I truly need you at my side. I cannot win without you. I know this and I accept it. Let me have a chance to amends. Give me the chance to earn your forgiveness. I'm not sure where you are but I am holding a meeting between our allies on the tenth. I would like it very much if you would honor me with your presence. I am sorry for how I reacted. I should have done it like an adult. Please accept my apology and be there. To express me sincerest feelings in this matter, I have sent a gift. A very precious gift. She is young and her wing membranes are still very delicate but I was able to cross breed Nagini's egg with a rare type of teacup dragon and basilisk DNA. It is essentially still a teacup dragon, but with basilisk qualities. I hope she is a wonderful companion for you.

Tom.'

Harry set the thing aside and opened the box slowly. When he saw what was inside, he cooed. The creature was beautiful, it's sleek, shining scales glittering silver and black beneath the light, the diamond back black pattern running over the silver outlined in a deep purple. She was beautiful. Her eyes peered up at him curiously as she used the two little fingers on the tips of her wings to pull herself up out of the box. Her snake tongue flicked out to taste the tip of Harry's nose. She was no longer than his forearm.

'Hello, beautiful. I am Harry.'

'Greetings, Inferi Lord, I am unnamed. Are you to be my human?' She hissed back warmly.

'Well, I am not exactly human but yes. May I name you?'

'Very well. What is my new name, not-so-human Harry?'

He thought for a long minute, ignoring the surprised and astonishing looks his host was giving him.

'How about…Cordelia? It's beautiful and majestic, just like you.' He suggested with a smile, letting her crawl up his shoulder to rest on his neck, curling her tail around his neck for an added purchase.

'I like it. I like you. I will gladly be your companion.'

Harry's smile widened and he reached up to stroke her tail, earning a small mewling sound in response. Her scales were still sensitive. She must have just hatched recently. He looked at the letter and his grin turned feral. On the back he scribbled out his response and had Mimi send it on its way.

'You are going to have to do better than that. But I will be there.'

It was time to get his things and go to the platform. He would arrive with Severus who would drop him off so they could make a public appearance together. It would make their story easier to believe.

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	12. Death Comes To Us All

Disclaimer: Nope

Chapter Twelve

Sable sat on the train, his new companion sleeping on his shoulders. Creed hovered at the top of the compartment, disguised as a shadow. He knew better though. Creed was much darker than a normal shadow and had the tendency to shift slightly. The teen smirked, reaching up to stroke Cordelia's tail. She cooed pleasantly in response, burrowing more under his long hair for added warmth. He had gotten used to her crawling through his clothes and hair. The whole platform had been buzzing about the strange boy who had arrived with the potions professor. Speculations were running amuck. There were rumors that he was Severus's son, some that he was a young Death Eater in training and some even that he was the man's young charge, left to him in the death of a friend or loved one. He had found it all rather amusing. Severus had not. The compartment door opened quickly.

"No, he is not. Ronald, how could you even-! Oh." Hermione stood at the door, blushing in embarrassment at being overheard and not seeing the pretty stranger in the compartment, "I'm sorry. We'll find another place."

Ron however, was curious. Far too curious.

"Hey! Aren't you Snape's kid? Who are you exactly?" The red head asked suspiciously.

Sable held down the feelings of dislike. What had he ever seen in these two brown nosers? They were both outright unpleasant.

"I am Sable Noa Snape. I am Professor Snape's cousin." He replied in a calm, cultured way, taking Severus's warning to act like a proper Snape to heart.

Ron snorted making Hermione elbow him in the ribs.

"My condolences." The Weasle groused, rubbing his ribs tersly.

Sable's eyes flashed dark.

" Yes. You must be Weasley. Severus told me of you and your prejudicial idiocy. Well then let me lay this down now. I do not like you and you don't like me so I'll make it really easy for you. Stay away from me and I won't send something horrible crawling through your common room at night." He hissed with a dark grin, opening the book he had been reading back up.

Ron glared but laughed out loud.

"What are you gonna do? Send your little Death Eater friends to hit us with pillows?"

Hermione grabbed her boyfriend's arm in a tight hold suddenly, her eyes wide and frightened.

"Do what he says, Ron." She whispered quickly, already backing away and trying to drag her boyfriend with her.

Weasley just shook her off angrily.

"Why? What the hell is he gonna do, Hermione?" He asked with impatience embedded in his voice.

She pointed at the book he was reading. The title, clearly on display, was 'Necromancy Through The Ages: Moulding The Dark Gift'. She thought he was a Necromancer. And why not? He could control nearly all types of undead. He wasn't a Necromancer but it was a good cover. He was training for it though. As well as many other interesting practices. Ron turned sheet white and scurried off like the rodent he was. Much to Sable's annoyance though, the annoyance left the compartment door open, practically inviting the newer addition inside. Draco Malfoy stepped up to the door with a similar curiosity in his eyes. The blond smirked, stopping at the door and Sable narrowed his eyes. Draco bowed slightly, making the Inferi raise an eyebrow.

"May I come in and join you, Lord Necromancer?"

The other children in the hallway stared, whispering amongst themselves. Sable nearly grinned. The rumor would spread and it would come to the Headmaster. The old coot would approach him. That was exactly what he wanted.

"You may enter, Draco Malfoy."

Draco sat at his side after shutting the door and casting a locking and silencing charm. He observed Sable for a long moment, watching the boy read. Cordelia was now watching him with something like the way a cat watches a vulture. Wondering if she dared trying to pick a fight with him.

"Our Lord has been in an uproar, my Lord. He is rather…upset with you." Draco said calmly, pulling out a book of his own.

It was an old diary it seemed. A very familiar diary. A feral smile graced his features. My my my. However had he come across THAT? Last time he had checked, Lucius Malfoy had had it and it had been destroyed. The diary sat innocently in his hand, whole once more.

"Is he now? That sounds like a personal problem to me."

Draco smirked slightly, a twitch of the lips so slight Sable nearly missed it.

"Personal indeed. It sounded very personal. Our Lord told me to give you this. He says that he recreated it to be able to communicate with you outside of the Headmaster's knowledge. The book will heat up when either of you has written to each other." Draco handed him the book, watching with some curiosity while Sable inspected in amusedly. "May I ask a question, my Lord?"

"You may."

"I have stidied Inferi thoroughly for some time and I know that you were Turned." He had obviously caught Sable's attention for the teen looked up at him with a smirk, "Who were you before you died?"

Sable chuckled wryly, while Cordelia jumped down to scurry around the boxlike compartment. He took a moment to open a Tupperware container of raw, bloody meat for her to eat, taking another out for himself. He had found that he could stave off the mess that occurred at Tom's home if he occasionally took part in raw meat. And he had to admit, it was not bad at all. The super hyped up enzymes in his saliva broke it down so quickly that it nearly fell apart in his mouth. It was delicious. He was eager to be able to kill. He wanted to try kissing his enemies. His saliva worked like a komodo dragon's except much deadlier. Sadly, it didn't work on Tom. How he would love to lick his happy parts literally off. He hadn't yet figured out why it didn't effect him but he had Severus working on it as well. Probably had something to do with him having his blood in his veins and being only partially human. It would naturally grant him immunity.

"I don't think that is quite necessary for you to know. Yet." He answered the teen who looked at the meat dubiously.

Cordelia had settled into hers happily. Harry picked up his forked and popped one into his mouth, making Draco look nauseous.

"It's just steak, Malfoy. Calm down. I don't eat people."

Draco looked only slightly relieved.

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	13. Death Is Only The Beginning

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Chapter Thirteen

Sable approached the stool, the Headmaster's eyes boring into his back. The old man didn't suspect who he really was. Also, he had another surprise. There sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts seat at the head table was an undead. Not just any undead either. The man was watching him with the intelligence born of centuries. He was a Liche. The Liches were once Necromancers who began to lust for more knowledge than they could obtain in their human lives, so they used magic to seal their bodies in a half living half dead state. Harry had to admit though; he certainly looked good for a dead man. He had long silver hair tied at the nape of his neck and cool, calculating lavender eyes. His skin was pale and hollow just like Sable's own. When their eyes met, the teacher raised his goblet in salute, intrigue and amusement vying for dominance on his countenance. Sable took his seat, the hat falling over his head. Cordelia fidgeted around his neck, cooing lightly.

'I never did like that old man. But killing a student? Well, I certainly wouldn't put it past him. Never would have sat with Godric though. How are you Mister Potter? Still alive, eh?'

'Not at all. I am quite dead as a matter of fact. Drowned by a thousand animated corpses and bitten by an Inferi to boot. However, Sable Noa Snape is alive and would very much like to be placed in Slytherin.'

'Ahh, yes, yes. I think I can manage that. I wish you luck on your plans then. And remember, the new teacher, the Liche, he can be trusted. He will make a very good ally for you. Make nice and play well. SLYTHERIN!'

The roar of applause that followed, sent Cordelia into fits and she jerked away, trying to fly away in fright but her fragile wings gave. She rolled a foot or so on the ground before coming to a stop. Her whimpers were pitiful and the crowd was staring at her in shocked horror. You'd think they'd never seen a baby dragon before. Sable scooped her up affectionately, stroking her back all the way to the Slytherin table. He took his seat next to Draco, calming his companion the whole way. She eventually took up her nesting on his neck for warmth, occasionally dipping down into his clothes to get warmer when a particular whoosh of air came nearby. Draco smirked at him.

"So, the new professor hasn't stopped staring at you this whole time. Maybe he thinks you're cute." The blonde teased amusedly, watching as Dumbledore stood to address the man's presence.

The sight of the Headmaster brought a cool, undeniable rage from inside Sable's chest. The only thing keeping it in check was the knowledge that he would bring the man's undoing. Perhaps he would have to see if any other students had disappeared over the years.

"As you all know, we are joined once more this year by our newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Cadin."

The man bowed to the crowd, his eyes zeroing once more on Sable with a grin. Several girls swooned. If only they knew. Sable couldn't stop the answering smirk that made its home on his face. Severus was watching the interaction carefully. The teen turned back to Draco and the food now appearing on the table with that same grin in place.

"I don't think so."

Tom sat at his desk, pondering the note in front of him. Of course he had not expected Harry to come back to him so easily. But the way he brushed off his apology irked the man to no end. What was he supposed to do? He had never really had to make up to anyone before. It was an entirely alien concept.

"Lucius, how do I win the Inferi Lord back over? He is still angry even though I apologized and sent him a gift. What else can I do?"

His General sat back in the chair nearby, thinking over the question. He had had to make up with Narcissa over this thing or that over the years so Tom knew he was the right man to ask.

"Well, you have to prove to him that you're sincere. That you want him for him and not just because of the alliance. I suppose I am correct in assuming that he is your lover?"

His only response was a reluctant nod.

"Then you should show him that you actually want him for him and not for the power he holds." Lucius said annoyed as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

The Dark Lord rolled his eyes, not even offended in the least that his servant had just spoken to him in such a manner. It was Lucius to whom he had been speaking to of his uncertainties. He knew that he had found a willing and capable friend in the man. Lucius had unloaded his own problems as well, such as his son's porn addiction and his wife turning out to frequent strip clubs. He didn't mind though. It made their sex life amazing.

"If you say so."

"I do." The man said shortly, tossing his lord an amused look that had Tom likewise smirking back.

Creed gripped the boy's hips, reveling in the moans and sharp gasps he tore from Harry's throat. Every thrust was electric against his body and every sound he could make the Inferi release sent shockwaves down his spine. Who knew that being with him, inside him, was so mind blowing. He had needed this for far too long. He had chosen Harry as his when he first saw the boy with the Dark Lord.

"Creed!" Harry gasped, his nails dragging down the shade's arms.

His abdomen tightened impossibly when he finally dragged that one word from his young lover's mouth. His name. HIS name was what he had wanted to hear the Inferi scream. His. Not that damned wizard's. Perhaps he could poke Harry in the right direction. In HIS direction and away from Voldemort. With steely resolve he thrust three more times into the boy's body before spilling himself inside him. Harry lay completed beneath him, sighing contentedly. Creed pulled him against him tightly, vowing to get rid of any competition to be had. He would keep Harry even if he had to destroy anyone who got in the way.

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	14. I'm Not Afraid Of Death, I Just Don't Want To Be There When It Happens

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Chapter Fourteen

Harry found himself playing the part of Sable Noa Snape very well. It was easy. As if he just made Sable's story real and the boy was a second personality inside him. Harry and Sable. It was easy to imagine the two of them as separate and just in the same body. So that's what he did. It made it easier to hold the illusion. He ended up spending much of his extra time either with Severus in his chambers or with Draco, who he learned quickly had rather the dedication to…the more carnal pleasures in life.

He had walked in upon Blaise going through the library of pornography he found at the end of Draco's bed. It was an admittedly impressive collection although Sable had enough of the real thing to go around. Draco was still short tempered after that, even as they took their seats in Defense Against the Dark Arts. His Undead legion was a ground in the forest just waiting for his instruction. He knew that the Dementors would call upon him soon enough. They were Voldemort's allies after all and they wouldn't be able to resist coming to pay him a visit.

Creed was practically glowing with their recent activities and hovered over his seat as a shadow, earning the occasional smirk from Professor Cadin. He had to admit though that the man was fascinating. He commanded a calm air of dignity and respect while not being overbearing or domineering. It was a nice change for once. Not to mention the small connection they shared. They and Creed, of course, were the only undead in the castle.

"So, Mr. Snape, if the information that Ms. Granger just gave us is correct, then what is the most effective way of finding a Necromancer?" The man asked him, their eyes meeting once more in silent, curious competition.

Sable smirked lightly, showing that he understood the meaning behind the question. Cadin wanted to see if he truly understood what he was and he wanted to know what Sable himself knew about Necromancers. No doubt Cadin was still practicing even after his untimely transformation into his Liche state. Perhaps he was even hinting that he was there at Hogwarts because he too had sensed his Call.

" Why, you would send out a Call of course."

"Mr. Snape stay after please." Cadin's voice rang calmly as the rest of the students filed out of the room.

Draco raised an eyebrow, smirking lecherously. He obviously thought that Cadin wanted him for more pleasant activities. It would be pleasant but not in the way Draco thought. He set his bag down on the table he had occupied during class until the last student was well gone and a silencing and locking charm sent at the door. The two stared each other down for a moment before speaking, Creed materializing next to Sable. Cordelia chose that moment to twitter around the room, exploring every cranny and crevice there was. She was a curious thing.

"I admit that I was quite curious when I came to Hogwarts and discovered you here, Lord of Inferi. You died quite young, didn't you?" Cadin asked and ran a hand down his cheek, jerking back somewhat when he felt the warmth. "Warming charms. How…cleverly blasphemous. You should be nothing less than what you are. You shouldn't have to."

"That's all well and good in theory but I did die before I could finish my education and people would get somewhat curious if I went around with the body temperature of a refrigerator."

Cadin smirked knowingly at the small comment though. Creed shifted slightly behind him, eyes narrowing. His shadow may be a problem where Cadin was concerned. Creed was definitely the jealous type.

"Now, Mr. Snape, let's not continue with falsehoods. You are here because of the Dark Lord. You have one of his inner circle as your cover. While education may be partially what drove you here, it is not the real reason. The Dark Lord is." He laughed while noting the Shadow's unease.

Sable nodded calmly, taking in the simple black robes and efficient way of moving that Cadin conducted. He made every movement fascinating in itself. It reminded him of a certain Dark Lord. Tom had the same way of doing things. Even in bed he was efficient. The thought brought a surprising shock of heat to his system that did not go unnoticed by either man in the room with him. Creed was at his elbow in a moment whereas a slow smile spread over the teacher's face.

"Perhaps you aren't here for the exact reason I suspected. Being with humans can cause that. It's a sensory memory. Thoughts of the…action can trigger it. You just need more interaction with undead. Although from the looks of things, your Shadow is taking care of that."

"Indeed. Perchance, what are you doing here, Professor. What business does a Liche have in a school? My name is Sable. Sable Noa Snape. Mr. Snape is my cousin." He balked, trading witty comebacks with the man.

His shadow did not look pleased. Was he, dare say it, flirting? No. Surely to Merlin not.

"Then you may call me Silence. Silence Julius Cadin. And what makes you think I just am not here to teach, Sable? Perhaps I enjoy it." At a raised eyebrow from the teen of disbelief, he waved it off with a smirk. "Yes, I know. Its bullocks. I hate children. Despise them actually. I am here to find something, actually. Nothing that would be worth anything to anyone else, but something that has much sentimental value as far as I am concerned. I just can't seem to find it. It is most certainly in the castle though. Perhaps you may even offer me some assistance in finding it in exchange for some extracurricular instruction? Your aura is tainted with the essence that Necromancy leaves behind. You will need a formal teacher eventually."

"Perhaps I shall."


	15. Our Death Achieves The Ideal

Disclaimer: Nope.

A/N: I know that Harry is referred to as his real name in this chapter pretty often. I understand that it's probably confusing so let me clarify. This will only happen when he is in private with someone who knows that he is not human. Kind of like he doesn't have to keep up the facade as much.

Chapter Fifteen

"So can being with humans cause any other unfortunate and potentially embarrassing side effects I should know about?"

Silence laughed, taking note that they didn't speak too far into the night. Neither of them needed sleep so they stayed together speaking long after the curfew had gone into effect. Silence wanted to make sure that his young new companion was back to his dormitory by the time the humans began to wake.

" Oh yes. No doubt you have noticed feeling the more human emotions ever since coming to be around them more. That is because the life energy that our kind no longer possess and that passes through the essence of every living thing, triggers a shadow of those emotions to return. Joy, despair, jealousy, hate, lust. Seeing as how you died as a hormonal teenager, no offense, you seem to have a special problem with lust."

Harry didn't even try to look embarrassed. It wasn't an emotion he felt. Creed hovered irritably next to him, his hands stroking the Inferi Lord every so often, insuring that the Liche knew that he was unavailable.

"And it seems your Shadow has more than a slight problem with the jealousy aspect."

Creed glared at him, growling in response. Harry waved him off, annoyed. Silence was his only ally inside the castle right now and if he was going to be taking Necromancy instruction from him then Creed had better learn to deal with it. He nodded in agreement. Silence had turned out to be a very interesting person to talk to. Intelligent for sure. Cunning, wise and stimulating. Just. Like. Tom. Irritation welled inside him and Silence caught the tightening around his eyes and mouth. He smirked teasingly, tipping his glass of burgundy wine to his lips. Harry had been given a lovely glass of heated blood that he had polished off quickly enough. Having Silence as an ally could be very beneficial when it cam eto his Inferi needs.

"So, I know that it isn't really any of my concern, but I feel that I just have to ask. I would hate to have to deal with an angry Dark Lord and not even know why. What happened between the two of you? It seems to be an extremely sore topic for your Shadow." The man said calmly, sipping his drink and watching him with thoughtful eyes.

"This shadow has a name!" Creed hissed although neither paid him any mind.

Harry simply shrugged in indifference although his annoyance was evident.

"The Dark Lord and I were lovers, ever since my Awakening. However, there was a slight complication and I became feral. It seems that he couldn't handle having a lover who wasn't entirely alive." He explained off handedly, trying to ignore the fact that Tom's rejection still stung, " I nailed one of his more unfortunate men to the back of his bed room door. A parting gift, if you would. So I left and came here."

The Liche seemed heavily amused by his antics if the grin on his face was anything to judge by. He chuckled.

"To the one place that he would never think to look. Clever." Silence admitted.

Harry smirked.

The sky had ironically decided to drop on the poor people attending the Dark Lord's meeting on the tenth. Harry didn't care in the least though. What did the dead care for some trifling bad weather? It was pouring buckets outside. Harry and Creed stood alone in the dark back hall behind the meeting hall, watching the rivulets of water run down the window in criss crossing lines like the veins of some cold being. Like him. The manor was homey and comfortable but not nearly as comfortable as the one the Dark Lord had previously inhabited. The one that they had shared together. Harry had to admit, he was in a foul mood. Seeing Tom was going to be awkward and he would most likely leave angry again. Creed traced his spine with a soft hand and Harry could feel the cold through his cloak. Tom was so warm, so full of life. Dear Merlin. Was he pining for Tom?! Disgusting. Absolutely abhorrent. He was at this meeting as the Inferi Lord and an ally, not as some love struck human. He needed to damn well start acting like it! Harry left the window silently and walked to the room, his thoughts a mystery to even his Shadow.

The Death Eaters looked surprised to see him walk in, cloaked as usual from head to toe. Voldemort looked pleased but Harry could sense his unease. The tension in the room spiked. The Dementors near the back of the room writhed in excitement. The meeting commenced with nary a hair or comment out of place. Severus did not report his whereabouts, which Harry felt gave the man even more credence. He didn't even seem as if he had seen Harry recently. A very good actor indeed. A very good spy. The meeting was boring although he did learn that Dumbledore had been much more active lately, probably in his attempts to find the Horcruxes, and had not been at the school much. Severus reported that the man was going to be gone even longer over the next two months than previous months before. It was going to be what occurred after the meeting that determined what would happen between them. So Harry waited with the silent patience that only those who are no longer among the living can possess and at last his patience was rewarded when Tom dismissed his followers with a few short words. The men and woman filed quickly out, all unwilling to see what would occur between their master and his scorned lover. Tom stared him down for some time, Harry's eyes never wavering from his crimson ones.

"You look well, Harry." Tom began calmly, trying for stoic unconcern.

"I'm dead. We don't change much."

The Dark Lord nodded slightly. Creed watched the two, unable to contribute but his eyes were smouldering with jealousy. Tom could have Harry when he could not. That was something he found personally offensive. The silence between them lay as thick as the bated breathes of the forgotten Dementors in the back of the room. Cordelia peeked her head out of his robes to see what the commotion was about before returning to her warm nest and her interrupted nap.

"I was…wrong."

"I know."

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	16. The World's An Inn, And Death, The Journey's End

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Sixteen

"I was…wrong."

"I know."

They both stood in silence, Tom unsure of what to say and Harry, waiting for him to speak. The Dark Lord sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. He tripped over his apology clumsily. It was hard to admit you were wrong. It was even harder to apologize for being wrong. Especially when you were in a position of power.

"I'm sorry." He forced out, choking on the words bitterly.

Harry caught his reluctance and smiled sardonically, shaking his head.

"No you aren't. Not sorry enough. If you were, it wouldn't be so difficult for you to apologize. You let your pride get in the way and you will have nothing to show for it in the end."

Tom glared for a moment before shrugging it off an abandoning his quest for forgiveness for the moment.

"Won't you come back? You must know that there is no assurance that anyone else will ever be with you." Tom pointed out calmly.

Harry, however, naturally took offense. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oh? And what makes you think I haven't already found a replacement for you, Tom?" Harry asked, a wicked smirk curving onto his lips.

The Dark Lord's eyes flashed and a jealous rage filled the crimson."Who?" He demanded in a fit, stepping up against him threateningly.

Harry scoffed and turned away, knowing it would piss the man off immensely.

"As if the knowledge applies to you, Tom. You left ME, remember. Whose attentions I seek and who I sleep with are no longer any of your concern. You have no claim on me." The teen tossed out casually.

The Dark Lord hissed furiously, spinning him around so that he was forced to look at him once more.

"I will ALWAYS have a claim on you! You're mine! I will not accept anyone else touching you!" He seethed but the Inferi Lord shoved him away, his skin cold to the touch as his glamours fell away in his anger.

"You didn't seem to want me then! I will not accept you using me as some toy and tossing me away only to demand my return when I've found a new playmate! I do not belong to you! I never did and I never will!"

In the midst of their arguing, they did not realize that they had company until the Liche spoke aloud.

"Sable, I believe you were expected in my room ten minutes ago. I thought I would come and see what was holding you up." Silence stated, his eyes narrowing at the angry state the two were in and the domineering position the older man had taken over his beloved apprentice.

Harry's anger folded away into that same wicked smirk that he had shown moments before. Tom's eyes were dangerous now. Of course Harry had to prod him some more. He waltzed over to Silence, folding himself against the other undead body teasingly. He knew EXACTLY what it would look like to Tom. His suspicions would not be unfounded. He and Silence both had expressed interest in some sort of relationship. The Liche's arms found their way around him and Harry laid his head on his unbeating chest. Tom looked murderous now.

"Silence, meet my scorning ex-lover."Harry quipped. His master raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

Creed looked stoic but still angry in the corner.

"Hm. Very well. You are overdue, little one." The Necromancer purred himself, tilting Harry's chin upward with a single digit. He bowed politely to Tom. "Lord Voldemort." He stated simply before the two of them faded from the room.

Voldemort hissed, throwing his desk across the room and scattering papers and ink all over. What was that blasted boy thinking?! What crazy scheme did he have cooked up in that little head of his? He was infuriating! He couldn't just accept his apology and let it be done. No! He had to throw it back in his face! Bloody brat! Delicious brat. Potter belonged to him! Not some meaningless Liche! He heard chuckling from the corner and turned around just in time to see Creed materialize from the shadows.

"Well, you are in a right state, aren't you?" The shadow chuckled darkly.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at him.

"And what would you know, Shadow? You are in just as much luck with him as I am."

Creed hummed, settling himself comfortably at Voldemort's side. The seething Dark Lord paid him no mind and instead proceeded to pace back and forth, attempting to find a way to coax Harry back into his arms.

"You're right. I am in the same boat as you, as deplorable as it is to admit. However, I know just the remedy. What would you say if I could tell you just how to get Harry back here into your arms?" The Shadow asked, taking the seat that had once stood behind his now demolished desk.

Voldemort immediately became suspicious. Naturally. One did not become the Darkest Lord in history by being all sunshine and daisy gumdrops. It took suspicion and ruthlessness and the ability to charm others.

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Because I have more of a shot with Harry when he's with you, as much as you keep screwing it up. This Liche is, I hate to say, perfect. Perfect attitude, perfect body, perfect teacher. His name is Silence. If I can get him to come back to you, I can have him again as well. Do you see?"

"Unfortunately." Voldemort hissed with a sneer but did not refute his words, "And you know how to bring Harry back?"

"I do. I also know where he's been hiding and why you haven't been able to contact him."

He was certainly attentive now. It had been a mystery that had plagued him ever since his exlover's disappearance. None of his usual summons had worked. Creed nodded soundly with a wicked grin spreading over his pale face.

"Hogwarts of course."

Not for the first time concerning Harry, Voldemort saw red. Of course! Hogwarts! It was where Harry had been most comfortable in life. He cooled his simmering fury will a few deep breaths.

"Does the old man know?"

"Not yet. But I'll tell you who does…"

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	17. For Whom Does The Bell Toll?

Disclaimer: Nope, I own nothing, except my bag and my laptop.

Chapter Seventeen For Whom Does The Bell Toll?

Creed watcher Silence and Harry trade witty banter long after the last of the humans had gone to bed. Well, almost. He still knew of one figure who haunted the dungeons even this late into the night. He cleared his throat alerting the two to his presence once more.

"Sable, don't you have a meeting with your pet potion's master?" He inquired lightly as if was no concern of his where his charge went. In reality though his eyes were glued to Silence, watching him as only the dead could. The Liche was sharing his sentiments in leaps and bounds. Harry nodded and stood from his position on the floor that they had taken up in front of the fire.

"Very well. I will see you tomorrow, Silence. Creed, until later then." He said and then, soft as a shadow, slipped from the teacher's quarters.

Creed frowned at the man before him with a heat that only jealousy could bring. The Liche patted the spot on the floor that Harry had just vacated, gesturing for him to sit.

"I would rather not." The Shadow replied distastefully.

"You find sitting on the floor so distasteful Creed and yet your young master was sitting in this exact position and placement moments ago. Does that mean that you find his actions distasteful and through those actions, himself?" Silence asked with a playful smirk.

Creed glared at him but took the spot anyways. How dare he twist his words! Bloody Liche!

"I admit that we both find ourselves at a rather unfortunate and conflicting impasse here." Silence said calmly, summoning another glass of the blood and wine mixture that Harry had grown so fond of. He handed it to Creed, his smirk broadening when his hand lingered against the Shadow's own. Harry's protector seemed increasingly suspicious.

"How so?"

"You hate me because you want to be with Harry but I have no interest in him."

He was absolutely floored. But the two of them were all over each other usually!

"You're not?"

"Negative. Don't get me wrong, Harry and I may sleep with each other, but our relationship is merely that of two fond companions. My main focus for some time now," He said, backing Creed up into the couch until he had a firm, cool hand on the Shadow's chest, "Has been you. I think it admirable that you protect him so fiercely. I want you, Creed. Not Harry"

He wasn't sure when he had ever been more shocked in his death. Certainly not since he had discovered that he was dead in the first place. Silence was leaning in close now, close enough to smell the merlot and blood on his lips. He put a solid hand on his chest to halt the Liche's progress any further.

"I still want Harry." He said, his voice husky, a fact that he cursed himself for.

Silence rubbed their noses together playfully, dipping down to lick along Creed's bottom lip enticingly.

"Can you not learn to want us both? I for one think it would be hotter than Hades to see and you and Harry in the same bed as I. I believe it could be quite enjoyable."

As he spoke, his hand on Creed's chest moved lower mapping out the planes of his toned stomach.

"Perhaps…"

"Well then. I think we should get to know each other better. Settle our differences. I believe some angry make up sex is in order!" Silence beamed happily, pushing the Shadow to the floor.

"You think it will be so easy to top me then?" Creed growled but shivered delightfully at the image Silence had presented.

Voldemort looked at Severus blankly, his eyes somewhat cold. His spy had been naughty indeed, but he would not punish him. Harry would not appreciate that. Not one bit. Instead, he had brought the potion's master to his private rooms, offered the puzzled man a drink and sat him down as if they were equals.

"Now, Severus. I suppose you are wondering why you are wondering why you are here. Why am I treating you not as my servant but as someone more on equal footing?"

"I do not pretend to know what my master thinks. To do so would be to imply that you were predictable which you certainly are not." Severus replied democratically, attempting to get a feel for his lord's mood before committing to the conversation.

"Slippery as ever, my friend. I know that you have been hiding something from me. Something that you know I greatly desired. How is Harry? Or Sable, if you would, since he insists on keeping up this ridiculous alias"

The man was silent but Voldemort waited patiently for his answer.

"He is well, my Lord. I had the pleasure of his company just this evening." At Voldemort's eyes narrowing, he elaborated, "He joined me for a small experiment. I am researching the Inferi and what exactly is responsible for creator the varying types of undead. He is aiding me in this endeavor."

The Dark Lord nodded, sipping his wine pleasantly. Severus had to force himself to appear collected and calm when really he was on pins and needles. How had Voldemort found out? Said man scoffed at his resolute exterior.

"There is no need to be nervous, Severus. I will not punish you. I realize that perhaps some time apart is best for Harry and I. I must earn his affections back or we will forever be attempting to undermine the other. We must be true equals. There is no room for two such dominants otherwise. This brings me back to you, Severus."

"Me?" He inquired lightly, surprised at the tenure of his lord's speech and how he had finally come to the realization of what was best for not only himself but Harry as well.

"Yes. I recognize that you are a brilliant mind and have served me well for many years. You have become close to Harry as well. As per my deliberation on the matter, I have decided that you shall not be a servant of mine, but rather an ally instead." Severus looked at him in wonder, vaguely questioning whether his lord had finally lost his mind. Crimson eyes bore into his own shocking obsidian, "Will you allow me your arm so that I may remove your mark?"

Severus, still shocked into silence, handed his arm over. Within moments the dreaded Dark Mark was gone from his flesh and he and Lord Voldemort were negotiating an alliance between them.

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	18. As Soon As One Is Born, One Starts Dying

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter Eighteen

Sable stood in his dorm room, the other boys gone for a Hogsmeade weekend. Cordelia had created a little nest out of Draco's pillows and sat purring. His blonde troublemaking friend had sent word forward just an hour ago, saying that their group were going to stay in the inn in the village for the night and that he should join them. He had politely declined. Now however, he found himself bored. Hogwarts texts were nothing compared to the vast expansive library at the Dark Lord's disposal. He had read them all. After all, what else was he supposed to do when he didn't sleep? He was out of books, his amusements were gone, Creed was no where in sight and Silence was otherwise occupied, doing Merlin only knows what. He was…bored. No. Not bored perhaps. This feeling it was sharper and yet dull at the same time. It throbbed and burned slowly and felt as if it were weighing his whole being down. He was…lonely. Sable frowned, turning in his bed restlessly and then finally sitting up. How ridiculous. He was Inferi. He should not be feeling this ridiculousness. He did not need human attentions or affection.

"What makes you frown so deeply, Sable?" Voldemort hissed from behind him, making the teen turn ever so slightly, keeping most of his back to the man.

"You being in my room. What do you want?"

The Dark Lord scoffed, dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. His eyes took in the sight of the boy with hunger. Harry's ties was undone and the top three buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, leaving a soft triangle of flesh visible.

"Can I not come to see my blooming ally?"

Harry rolled his eyes and flopped unconcernedly down on the bed.

"Yea right. You just want to make sure the senile Headmaster doesn't catch wind of me. I'm training in Necromancy, by the way. Silence says I have a real knack for it, being dead already and all." He said, feigning boredom and trying not to let it show how much being in such close proximity to Voldemort bothered him.

Voldemort sneered, his eyes lighting with jealousy and hate.

"Yes. I've heard about your teacher."

"I don't belong to you. I can sleep with whoever I want. We've been over this."

Tom ran a hand through his hair restlessly and began pacing the dorm room, finally sitting on the bed next to the Inferi. He was quiet for some time before speaking at last.

"What do I have to do to make it up to you? To prove that I am sincere in my desire for you?"

Much to Harry's annoyance he said the first thing that came to mind.

"It isn't desire that matters. Anyone can desire another, Tom. It's the one thing that I want that you will never give." He whispered, suddenly angry with himself and the man sitting before him.

He got up and began rummaging through his trunk for nothing in particular, just so he wouldn't have to look up at the man. It was ridiculous to expect the Dark Lord to give anyone his heart. He didn't have one to give. Tom watched him, surprise in his eyes. Harry hissed.

"Why don't you go sleep with one of your whores, Tom. I don't have the patience for your little 'get togethers' any longer." He snapped, waking Cordelia who trilled in irritation.

Tom looked at him like he had never seen him before.

"What is it? Tell me what I have to give, Harry. I need to know. I need you back." He insisted, a slight tone of desperation in his voice.

Harry whirled on him furiously, shoving him back into the nightstand as his magic lashed out.

"Your heart! But how stupid of me! I seem to have forgotten that you don't have a heart to give!" He yelled before storming off through the portrait hole where Tom dared not venture.

Tom watched him walk away and found himself amazed. He didn't even bat an eye when Cordelia cracked one of her eyes open before puffing a bit of flame in his direction. Was Harry developing…human emotions? It explained a lot, including his reaction when Tom had left him. He had gotten his feelings hurt…? Tom had proceeded in their relationship with the assumption that he was the only one with human emotions. He had gone about this the entirely wrong way. To his slight revulsion, he realized that he was going to have to woo Harry back to him. He'd never done that before. Hm. Time to call on Narcissa.

"And always listen to what he has to say, my Lord. That is very important. Always think over what he says, don't Immediately dismiss everything. A relationship is a partnership after all, with each partner giving 100% back to each other." Narcissa said, pacing before him in her parlor in Malfoy Manor.

Tom sat, his reading glasses on, scribbling everything she said onto his pad of paper.

"And what if he doesn't listen to me back?" He ventured calmly.

She smiled at him understandingly.

"Then you must exercise patience of the highest sort."

"What about when he sleeps with other men? What do I do then?"

"Well then, along with infinite patience, you must find out what it is that is making him go to those other men and then do it better."

He nodded with a small sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was gonna have to learn to reign in his infamous temper. Maybe Severus could teach him how. They were allies now so they were learning to be much more frank with each other and they actually had conversations that had nothing to do with potions or the war. It was…pleasant. The man had a sharp wit and a dry sense of humor that reminded him very much of Harry. He was going to have to make a few changes and sacrifices it seemed to get his future Consort back. This was going to be harder than he thought.

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	19. To Live Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

Disclaimer: Nope. I own no rights except the right to write. XD

Chapter Nineteen To Live Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

Harry was in a foul mood, even later that night and he still had two more days before the rest of the boys returned to their dorms. No doubt the Dark Lord would try and make another appearance. He had gone to see Silence, wondering where his missing companion had gotten to and found them in a rather compromising position, thoroughly embarrassing the Shadow and amusing the hell out of him. It had sent him laughing hysterically down the hall, much to the passing potion's masters confusion. Now that he had gotten back to his own empty room, though, he was irritated and lonely once more. It seemed that the Fates were laughing at him. Everyone had someone except him it seemed. He was pretty sure that Severus was having a secret ménage a trois with Lucius and Narcissa in any case. Creed had Silence. Draco was banging almost anything that moved and stayed still long enough for him to bat his pretty eyes at. He wasn't alive anymore and if it hadn't been for that bloody ponce, he wouldn't have to deal with this stupidity any longer. He was just about to hurl a vase across the room when he realized that Tom was standing behind him, in the planned path of the projectile. Harry seriously considered chucking it at him anyways and instead glared at him, tossing it over his shoulder so he could hear the satisfying crash of china.

"I don't want to see you, you bloody prat. Now get out of my room before I show you just how quickly I can repair that hideous vase." He hissed, his voice torn between petulance and anger.

It was all he could do to hide the hurt he was pretending that he didn't feel.

"I miss you, Harry. I'm sorry I was such an ass." He insisted but the teen just sneered, the anger sparking in his eyes, brighter than the fire that was burning in the corner.

"You mock me? Screw you, Tom!"

"No, I mean it! I'll admit that I didn't realize how you felt before. I was careless with you. But, please, hear me out. You don't have to be with me but…just…come back, alright? You can sleep with whoever you like. I miss our talks and having you nearby. I miss the way you look at me when I've said something you think is bollocks or even when your annoyed with some sniveling Death Eater. I miss arguing with you and spending time alone just the two of us. I miss you. Come back and be my companion. We won't sleep together. Just companions."

Harry looked at him with a deep sense of mistrust. Could Tom keep it just companionable between them? He was visually doubtful but he nodded none the less. He would have Severus unenroll him in the morning. That way it would just look as if he hadn't taken to England well.

"Fine. But I still stand by what I said. I'm your ally. You can't treat me as if I were a pet, Tom." Harry hissed irritably, plopping down on his bed with a sigh.

Cordelia scrambled out from under Theodore Notte's bed with some sort of shiny bauble in her mouth. She quickly smuggled it under his own bed where she had built a nest in her little pet bed. She'd been dragging things under there all week. Harry winced at the thought of what beneath his bed looked like by now. He had seen her slowly but surely dragging a whole silver clock under there. The Slytherins had been wondering what had happened to it.

"And perhaps, eventually, we can work on us? On whatever this is that we have between us?"

"Fine."

Sable Noa Snape was gone from Hogwarts the next day.

Severus gave a rare smile when he saw Harry Potter walked through his laboratory door in the dungeons of the Dark Lord's manor in Southern Germany. He set down his potions book lightly.

"Well look what the cat drug in." He chuckled, setting a stasis spell on the blood replenishing potion he had been brewing.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"More like what the arrogant, pompous Dark Lord drug in." The Inferi scoffed.

"Kicking and screaming huh?"

"You bet." Harry gave him a smile of his own.

He liked Severus. Underneath all of the sarcasm and cold snaky exterior was a man that Harry found he very much liked. He wondered what his life would have been like if Severus had been his father sometimes. The man crooked a long finger at him, beckoning him closer. Harry complied quickly, curious at the pleasure practically glowing in Severus's point. He looked up at the man, inwardly cursing himself for being so short and stumpy when he died.

"I suppose I owe you more than you think, Harry. Its because of you that I have finally received my life's desire." The man sighed happily.

Odd. He had never seen Severus do happy. Content, yes. But never happy.

"You quit at Hogwarts and became a hermit to work on your potions?" He asked with a teasing smirk.

Severus rolled his eyes at him but his mouth quirked upward at the corner. He rolled up his left sleeve to bare his forearm to the Inferi Lord. Harry was certain that if his body wasn't as solid as his it was, his jaw would have disconnected from him completely. The Dark Mark was gone! He touched the skin in amazement and the potion's master didn't even flinch at the feel of his cold flesh.

"He's declared me an ally instead of a servant and threatened anyone under pain of torture to insanity then death if they should harm or disrespect me. Its because of you. Since you left, Tom has been different. He's trying to better himself. We are…companions of sorts now as well. Narcissa is giving him Couple's therapy and I'm giving him Anger Management courses."

Harry's eyebrows shot up and he had to stifle a snort. The idea of Tom in therapy…and Anger Management! It was just too hysterical to imagine. So Tom was doing all of that…for him? Hm. Maybe he was really trying.

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	20. Dying Is Like Coming To The End Of A Long Novel

Disclaimer: Sorry. I don't own Hp. Sigh.

Chapter Twenty Break Me Down

Harry leaned against the throne, watching the Death Eaters file out while Cordelia scrambled over the rafters and flew about in play, stretching her wings. Tom rolled his eyes at the sight and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He seemed as if his thoughts were elsewhere.

"Long day?" The Inferi questioned lightly, nodding to Creed who had gone to show the UnForgiven to their new ground in the cemetery behind the Manor.

The Dark Lord leaned back in his throne, closing his eyes as if he needed to relax.

"You've no idea." He snorted, pulling his reading glasses from his robes and turning to the reports that he had sitting beside him.

Harry plucked the glasses from his hands with a smirk and slipped into Tom's lap gently. The Dark Lord looked surprised but something else lay buried in his eyes that the teen couldn't decipher.

"You need to relax. Let me help you focus on other things." He purred and leaned up to kiss the man for the first time since they had made amends.

Tom made a sound in his throat that he quickly smothered off. The Dark Lord's mind was in turmoil once more. He could feel himself start to shiver. It wasn't that he didn't want Harry or that he didn't find him attractive. It's just that he was so…cold. It's not like the thought that Harry was dead hadn't crossed his mind before and he enjoyed the boy's company more than anyone else's. It's just that it was a different thing when the teen was sitting in his lap and the chill from his body was seeping into his own. He couldn't stop the shudder he felt when Harry's tongue traced his lip nor the image that flashed in his mind of kissing one of the normal, rotting inferi. The image made him nauseous. Tom carefully lifted the teen from his lap, earning a frown from his companion, and stood calmly.

"I really have to get these done before tonight, Harry. Thank you, but I can't right now." He said before giving him an apologetically smile and making his way out of the room.

Harry's eyes narrowed. He hadn't missed the shivering or the flash of revulsion he gleamed from the Dark Lord's mind while his defenses were partially down. He watched the man walk away with his thoughts racing and his stomach squirming in anxiety.

~ o ~

Harry watched Tom moving above the young man through the crack in the door. He felt his still heart ache, the pain sudden, sharp and unforgiving. He couldn't watch anymore. That man...Blonde, blue eyed. He didn't even look like him. If Tom wanted him so much then why would he take a lover that was his exact opposite? Light skinned, blonde...alive. The blow was hard but he suddenly understood. Why Tom had not touched him again since they had reconciled with one another. The revulsion he had felt when he'd kissed him. Harry turned away quickly. He couldn't understand love. Not fully. Yet, pain was something he was very familiar with if not to this agonizing degree. He didn't understand the wetness in his eyes. Or the weakness in his limbs. He had held such high thoughts for their situation. They had been doing so well! Or so he had thought...Why hadn't he seen it? Tom didn't want to desire a corpse. He made his way down the dark halls. Why couldn't he be special to Tom? Did he not too deserve a place in someone's heart? He strode into the room he had taken at Tom's new manor, catching sight of himself in the mirror. He had no place in Tom's heart. His body was cold. His heart longer beat but it could still break. He glared at the tears in his reflection's eyes. He didn't breathe and he didn't have a pulse. He was still but he could still hurt. He smashed his hand through the glass, unable to look at himself any longer. Falling for Tom had been the weakest thing he could have allowed himself to do. He scrawled Creed a note, leaving it on his pillow. The Shadow was occupied with their Liche presently but would be back later. He would look in the library first. When he did not find him there he would come immediately to their rooms. He would find the note. Harry strode out of the room, not once looking back.

'Creed, Stay here and command the UnForgiven in my stead. I've gone back to ground. Harry.'

Perhaps...He supposed he should stop by and see Severus before he left. The man of anyone deserved an explanation the most. He found himself shortly at the man's door. Knocking three times brought the potion's master to the door. He had apparently been working long into the night for there were dark circles beneath the man's eyes and his hair was pulled back.

"Harry? Are you-...Are you alright?" He asked at seeing the teen's distressed state.

Harry shook his head, walking in at the man's insistence. "I'm leaving. I'm going back to ground. I thought you should know."

Severus frowned deeply. He knew that the chances of Harry returning after going back to ground were very slim. He was returning to the cave where he had died; returning to the still waters and his creator sleeping there.

"Does Tom know?" At Harry's silence and the heavy, uncontrollable tears that filled his eyes, he gathered the answer, "I see. Well, thank you for telling me. I will do my best to dispel any confusion here. Will you promise to return and see me? Preferably before am I dead." Harry nodded and with a final goodbye, he left the grim Severus behind.

Harry sighed as he apparated once outside the wards. He sighed at the mouth of the cave, bringing to mind what a forced action it was. He wasn't meant to breathe. He was dead. Tom's heart still beat strong, though. Death separated them and always would. The Dark Lord was immortal after all. He wouldn't ask him to ever give that up. Not after a lifetime of fighting desperately for it. There would never be a happily ever after for them. Tom was alive. He would be disgusted to be with a corpse, no matter how living he may seem. He preferred his partners to have warmth to their bodies. He had played the human for him once and had failed. But Tom would never accept him as he was. He approached the underground lake, the wall opening for him immediately. The Inferi sleeping beneath the water's glassy surface awakened, coming to the surface to welcome him back into their fold. He was their lord after all. He stepped into the water that he knew was frigid although he could not feel the difference. His heart ached at the painful reminder. Whether he was being burned by fire or buried in the freezing water, he felt no difference. He was submerged, allowing himself to sink to the bottom. On the rocky shore above, he left the golden locket with a winding snake engraved on its surface.

~ o ~

Severus felt somewhat sad at the grim departure and so went about his duties that day in an even darker mood than usual. When he saw Tom that evening, he couldn't help the feeling of anger that overtook him. He didn't have to ask what happened. He could guess. He gave the man a frosty look as he handed him the potion, careful to avoid his eye as much as was acceptable so the man didn't notice the glare burning there, waiting to be unleashed.

"Severus, are you well? You seem very angry this evening." Tom said calmly, raising an eyebrow as if daring him to unleash that fury within him.

He bit back the dozen hateful things he wanted to say, so instead, he gripped his hands into fists at his side and replied simply, not able to mask the hint of anger that leaked into his voice.

"Have you seen Harry?" He bit out darkly.

Tom's eyes widened for a moment before being masked quickly.

"No. Not since this morning." His eyes flashed but this time suspiciously." Have you, Severus?"

The potion's master snorted at the undertone the man's simple question held. He thought that he and Harry were sleeping together.

"He stopped by for a moment."

Creed floated quickly through the wall with Harry's Liche at his back, flinging the door open.

"Harry's left! He's gone back to ground!" The man cried.

Severus spun on his heel, glaring at the far wall, and walking away. But of course, Tom called him back, sensing his rage.

"Severus. You knew about this? Why? Why has Harry gone?" He asked.

Severus didn't even turn around. He didn't need to. Tom could hear the disgust and contempt he held for him in his voice.

"Because. He saw you with your pet." He spat the final word, his voice venomous. He turned, and seeing the frown on the man's face, his hissed out loud. "Don't you understand?! Harry may be dead but he still has feelings, however deeply buried they may be! He had feelings for you! Merlin only knows why!"

Tom's eyes narrowed but he seemed to ignore Severus's slip of the tongue.

"I'm going to find him."

The potion's master glared full out now. "No. Not unless you're going to take him back. Not unless you can accept ALL of him this time. Not just half. If you can't, then don't waste his time. He can't handle anymore of this indecisiveness. It will destroy him to be rejected by you again. No, peace." He said at Tom's attempt to defend himself, "You may not have realized your rejection but it was clear. You would not touch him. Harry's heart may not be beating anymore, he still feels hurt. You can't do this to him again. He may just choose a fire next time."

Tom's eyes did widen at this point but he nodded silently, sweeping out of the room. Severus's rage calmed, dissolving into sadness. He had to be sad. He had to defend Harry because the teen would not defend himself. He didn't understand emotions, even though, in a way, he had the greatest understanding of them of anyone. He knew that if you were in pain, you did whatever was needed to alleviate it. If you loved someone, you got together with them. But what if the person you loved...didn't love you in return? Where did that leave you then?

~ o ~

Harry opened his eyes in the frigid depths, unable to succumb to that deep darkness of rest once more. He couldn't. Something was preventing his slumber. His creator's arms were wrapped around him in a macabre embrace just as they had been when he died. He shrugged out of them gently, letting himself float to the surface. The Inferi around him stirred with his own restlessness. Their master could not rest, so they could not either. A few had already drifted from the water, shuffling up onto the land, some of them, for the first time in decades. Harry called them all back into the water. They had wandered long enough. He would allow them to remain at the surface of the water but they were better suited for their resting place in the inky lake. He pulled himself up onto the small island in the center of his home, sitting against the far side of the rock pillar that had once held Tom's horcrux. The same horcrux that now lay inconspicuously on the far shore. He felt the water, heavy in his lungs and even more streamed from his hair into his eyes. He lacked the human involuntary reflexes though and so the cold water streamed over his eyeballs, without his need to blink it away. He brought his knees to his chest, resting his head on them as if it were as heavy as his heart. The stone door opened although he did not turn to see who had entered. It didn't matter. Perhaps they would go away. For no reason at all, Harry's eyes filled with tears once more.

"Harry? I know your here." Tom's voice called from the shore.

The teen scooted over so he could be seen just slightly from Tom's place on the opposite side. He kept his face turned away. Tom would not see his disgrace.

"The locket is there. Take it and go." He demanded softly, his voice empty.

Tom sighed, and picked up the Horcrux that lay on the ground. There was silence for a long moment until the Dark Lord spoke once more.

"Harry, please come back with me." He asked, his voice gently pleading.

This time it was Harry who was silent.

"I don't belong there. I'm not alive." His voice was the slightest bit bitter. His future had been cruelly stolen from him. "I tried to play human for you, Tom, but I could not. I am dead. I can't ever be alive again."

Tom took a small step closer to the water's edge.

"But you can be! We can make you a new body, just like they made mine!"

Harry stood quickly, turning on the man. Tom gasped at the tears in his eyes and the heavy one that slid down his cheek.

"NO! To do so would rob me of everything I am! Everything I stand for! What would be the point of my hatred for that old man if I were to get a new body? He stole my life from me and I intend to pay him back in full! It would not be my body in any case. I won't steal life from others just for a body. That would make me worst than him. I live for the day when I can tear into that damnable man's throat and crush his head in my hands!" His anger seemed to be swallowed by the flurry of tears on his face now, his expression falling into emptiness, "And besides…If you will only want me for a life I can no longer have, then it would be a very hollow existence indeed. I would rather die for my vengeance than live for a false affection."

Tom didn't seem to know what to say to his declaration. The man stood, silent and somewhat sad looking. How dare he be upset? He was the one screwing around! How dare he lead him on! Harry sank back down to his seat on the island, turning his eyes away from the only person he had ever held fondness for. The same man that had rejected him and gone to another. The Dark Lord's voice called out, echoing against the cave walls.

"I was a fool, Harry. I thought that I could ignore that you were an Inferi. I thought that I could pretend that you were alive and everything would be fine between us. But now I know that that's just not possible." Harry snorted miserably.

"Just...go."

Tom was suddenly by his side. "I won't. I want you, Harry. And if that means that I have to accept all of you then I will."

The Inferi Lord was on his feet in a second, fury rekindled, despite Tom's soft words. "Just like you accepted me before?! Face it! You'll never be able to accept what I am! And what about him?! You didn't seem like you wanted me much when you were screwing him! Fuck you! You can huddle against his warmth and his beating heart all you like! I want no more of it! I'm not living, I'm dead! And as far as I'm concerned, you can die too!"

And without another thought, Harry shoved his beloved into the dead water, watching him sink beneath the surface. The Inferi at his command did not attack their creator but neither did Tom make any move to save himself. He let himself go, submitting to Harry's will. When Tom did not resurface, Harry stared at the bubbles as they ceased. He immediately became concerned. Tom couldn't die. He wouldn't let himself. He loved life too much. Right? He went to his knees, peering over the water, gripping the edge until his fingers were white. "Tom?"

Suddenly, for the first time since he had been alive and breathing, Harry felt real panic grip him. He launched into the water, letting himself sink. Tom couldn't die! He still had so much to live for! He had had a lot to live for too... He fought against the frigid water, swimming as hard as he could. He reached out until his hand grasped another. One that was not as lifeless as his follower's own. Harry couldn't fathom how long it took to get to the surface and pull Tom up on the island. Every second seemed like it lasted an eternity in which the life was seeping from the Dark Lord who had cherished it so much. Tom was still on the ground and he didn't breathe any longer. Harry pushed on his chest in mimic of the CPR he had learned in elementary school at the Dursley's. Within moments, Tom was choking up the freezing water, sputtering as Harry leaned his head gently to the side so it could fall out onto the stone instead of back into the man's lungs. At the first desperate breath, Tom's body began to shake considerably as if he were about to fall to pieces. He gave the teen a shaking smile.

"What were you thinking?! Why didn't you try and save yourself?! You're so stupid!" Harry cried, hitting the man's chest with anger and relief.

Tom cast a drying spell on himself and a few warming charms and waited for his body to cease its jerking.

"I knew...that you wouldn't let...me die." He said between his teeth chattering loud enough that Harry half feared they would break.

Harry's eyes were shocked but softened. Tom had trusted him with something more precious to the man than anything. He had trusted him with his life. The man's hand gripped his own softly as red met green. "Please come back, Harry? That man means nothing to me. You mean...everything." Harry shook his head, a small smile on his mouth. He sighed in exasperation but took the locket from the Dark Lord's hand, slipping it over his head. "You're so arrogant..." Harry whispered, leaning down to kiss the man tenderly. Tom smiled, reaching up to brush one of the stray tears away that had escape in Harry's earlier terror.

"I do...care about you." He said, watching Tom's eyes fill with pleasure. "I love you too, Harry."

~ o ~

Harry grinned at the man laying beside him, rolling over to lay ontop of the sleeping Lord of the New Wizarding World. Voldemort sighed with a smile, wrapping his arms around his Lord Consort. 

"Happy Birthday, Harry Potter-Riddle." The man whispered in his ear, finally opening his eyes.

The teen smiled brightly. Happy Birthday. His nineteenth birthday. Tom huddled against his warmth just as surely as Harry huddled against his. The teen took a deep breath and reveled in the need for it. It had been a year since they had triumphed over the Ministry and Dumbledore and seized control of their world. When the thought dead Savior made a very public appearance denouncing Dumbledore and revealing the crimes that the man had committed to the masses, they had followed their new leaders like good little sheep. They had left his Inferi status out of the media, instead just saying that the Dark Lord had found him just in time and saved him from certain destruction. An odd twist on the truth but it was necessary. After the victory and the world had settled its ruffled feathers once more, they had performed the ritual that would give Harry his body back, with a few pleasant differences. He looked as he would if the Dursley's had never mistreated him. He was alive again and because of his present mastership in Necromancy, the Inferi, UnForgiven and the rest of the undead legions still followed his every command. Because he was still, even living, saturated in the death magic that called to them, they thought of him as still one of them. Harry had managed to let go of his hate, after Dumbledore's death of course, and start his life anew. He had reconnected with his old friends briefly and the Weasleys but they weren't entirely sure what to make of him at present. After all, he had been dead for some time, then mysteriously showed up to revolutionize their world at the Dark Lord's side and turn around to take the position of Lord Consort. As Tom's fingers ran down his spine, Harry couldn't stop the shudder of pleasure that took over him. That was another change that had happened since he had been reborn. He was so sensitive. His nerves seemed to be constantly alive with sensations of every sort. The first thing that he had done when he had come back from the ritual was drag Tom with him into a nice hot bath. He hummed lightly, wiggling against the grinning man teasingly.

"And how are you going to make it particularly happy for me?" He asked, looking up at him with those piercing emerald eyes that he knew Tom adored.

The Dark Lord smirked and wrapped an arm around him, running the other through Harry's long hair. He traced the winding serpent tattoo on the young lord's lower back, knowing what it would do to his lover's blazing libido. They had contributed the sensitivity to Harry's magic. While he had been full blooded Inferi, his magic had not had any check because his body wouldn't be damaged by the swell. Since his rebirth, his magic had continued to swell like some living thing. During the ritual itself it seemed to have grasped hold of the boy's very body and so when he had emerged, Harry seemed to be more half human, half Inferi. It had been a complication but one that his beloved didn't seem to mind in the least.

"Oh, I was thinking a long hot bath to start, then we can go down to let our companions and allies shower you with attention before going to the Ministry to order some incompetent fools around and make them feel more incompetent before flooing over to Italy to meet with the Minister and his wife. Then getting over to France for a nice, moonlit dinner. After dinner we could come back here and ignore everyone so I can worship you for the rest of the night."

Harry hummed, closing his eyes and laying his cheek against the man's chest.

"I vote that we keep them waiting and you can practice worshipping me now. Just so I know your at the top of your game for tonight." He said mischievously, making his lover laugh out loud.

"So you think I can't please you as well as ever?"

"I think we should have…try outs. Just to make sure."

Tom smirked before pulling the chuckling teen beneath him to show him exactly how competent he was. He would show the little sprite what was what! They heard Creed knock on the door, calling to see if they were awake yet but all the Shadow heard was a giggle and a moan before he rolled his eyes and walked off. The couple would just ignore him until they were done anyways. He sighed before raising an eyebrow and making his way back to his own undead mate with a Cheshire smirk. Well, he couldn't let them have all the fun now could he?

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